TOKYO (Reuters) -Nippon Life Insurance will buy U.S. life insurer Resolution Life Group Holdings for about $8.2 billion in what would be the biggest acquisition ever by a Japanese insurer, business newspaper the Nikkei reported on Tuesday.
Nippon Life will purchase the shares it does not already own in Resolution Life from Blackstone and others to make it a wholly owned subsidiary in the second half of 2025. It will pay for the acquisition with cash on hand.
A spokesperson for Nippon Life said the company was in talks with Resolution Life, but added it could not disclose what the discussions were about.
Nippon Life has spent $1.65 billion to acquire 23% of Resolution Life. The Bermuda-based company is a closed-book insurer that purchases existing insurance policies from insurers in the U.S. and other countries, the Nikkei said.
The acquisition marks Nippon Life’s second major investment this year, following its $3.8 billion purchase of a 20% stake in U.S. insurance firm Corebridge Financial in May.
(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura and Anton Bridge; editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Jason Neely)
Comments