Nippon Life To Buy Resolution Life For $8.2 Billion, Nikkei Says

Nippon Life Insurance Co. plans to buy Resolution Life Group Holdings for $8.2 billion, Nikkei reported, in what would be the biggest acquisition by a Japanese insurer. 

The unlisted insurer is set to purchase shares from holders including Blackstone Inc. to make Resolution a wholly owned unit around the second half of 2025, the newspaper reported on Tuesday, without saying where it got the information. 

The company is in talks with Resolution Life regarding an acquisition, a spokeswoman for Nippon Life told Bloomberg, declining to comment further. The Osaka-based firm is already a shareholder in Resolution with a 23% stake, having invested a total of $1.65 billion in stages over recent years.

Japan's biggest life insurers are buying assets at home and abroad to diversify beyond their traditional domestic businesses, as demographic changes pose challenges to their long-term growth. 

While Nippon Life is seeking to add to its mainstay domestic insurance operation, it is also trying to create new growth drivers in areas such as asset management and healthcare. The company has said it will examine opportunities for “large scale investment” in big overseas markets such as the US by establishing relationships with potential targets.

Resolution Life acquires and manages portfolios of life insurance policies. It invests the assets and makes payouts when there are claims or policies mature. The Bermuda-based company has operations in markets including the UK, the US, Australia and New Zealand. 

Earlier on Tuesday, Nippon Life said it completed the acquisition of a 21% stake in Corebridge Financial Inc. for $3.8 billion from American International Group Inc.

At home, Nippon Life acquired nursing and child care provider Nichii Holdings for ¥210 billion ($1.4 billion) earlier this year.