お知らせ • Oct 31
Nippon Life Insurance Company completed the acquisition of remaining 77% stake in Resolution Life Group Holdings LP from Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) and other shareholders.
Nippon Life Insurance Company agreed to acquire remaining 77% stake in Resolution Life Group Holdings LP from Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) and other shareholders for $8.2 billion on December 10, 2024. The final acquisition amount will be determined by adjusting for shareholder dividends paid and other factors during the period leading up to the completion of the acquisition process. Following the acquisition, Resolution Life’s institutional business in the US, the UK, Bermuda and Singapore will become a subsidiary of Nippon Life, creating a new division that complements Nippon Life’s Japanese life business as well as its international asset management and retail businesses. Resolution Life will continue to be led by Clive Cowdery as Chairman and CEO and Resolution Life Group Holdings Ltd will remain the primary regulated entity. As part of the Transaction, Nippon Life announces that it reached an agreement on the same date with the relevant parties wherein it would acquire the remaining 20% of the shares in MLC Life Insurance (“MLC”) that it does not already own from National Australia Bank Limited (“NAB”) and would enter into a business integration (the “Integration”) of MLC and Resolution Life Australasia Limited (“Resolution Australasia”). Future merger of the operations of these two entities is under consideration. Blackstone will continue its relationship with Resolution Life as the company’s investment manager for directly originated assets across the private credit, real estate and asset-based-finance markets – reflecting the significant value Blackstone’s origination platform has provided to the business and its policyholders. Resolution Life's wholly owned subsidiaries, Resolution Life Colorado Inc. and Security Life of Denver Insurance Company, will be acquired as part of the deal. The transaction is will be funded by cash on hand. Resolution Life will also continue as Blackstone’s strategic partner in the life and annuity consolidation sector globally. Resolution Life, which comprises Resolution Re, Resolution Life US and Resolution Life Australasia will retain the Resolution brand. The Transaction is Subject to approvals in Japan, the US, Bermuda, and Australia, etc., and the customary closing conditions, including required regulatory approvals. As of February 3,2025, Fitch Assigns Positive Ownership i.e., RWP also factors in our expectation of a rating uplift for Asteron Life due to the stronger credit quality of the new ultimate parent, Nippon Life, which plans to operate Resolution Life NOHC as a joint venture with RLGH. As of February 3,2025, Fitch Assigns Positive Ownership i.e., RWP also factors in our expectation of a rating uplift for Asteron Life due to the stronger credit quality of the new ultimate parent, Nippon Life, which plans to operate Resolution Life NOHC as a joint venture with RLGH. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval from the Colorado Division of Insurance. The transaction is expected to take place in the second half of 2025.
Resolution Life is represented by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC as financial advisor and David Grosgold and Brita Siepker, Nicholas Potter and Kristen Matthews, Sam Whitaker, Daniel Priest, Almas Daud, Gary Murphy, Jonathan Lewis, Caroline Geiger, Caroline Geiger, Timothy McIver, Anne-Mette Heemsoth and Rick Sofield of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP as legal counsel in connection with this transaction. J.P. Morgan, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd. and Morgan Stanley acted as as financial advisor and Tatsuya Tanigawa and Tatsuya Nakayama together with Kei Ito, Takuya Oshida, Masato Yamanaka, Chié Nakahara, Kaoru Tatsumi, Yusuke Urano, Kazumaro Kobayashi, Akihiro Shiba, Seitaro Iio, Satoru Yoshikawa and Kaori Furuya of Nishimura & Asahi, David W. Alberts, Joseph A. Castelluccio, Steffen Hemmerich and Camila Panama of Mayer Brown LLP, ASW Law Limited, Bell Gully, DLA Piper Tokyo Partnership and Natsuko Ogawa and Con Tzerefos, Rehana Box, Ross Zaurrini and Tihana Zuk, Rowan Kendall, Lorraine Hui, James Clarke, counsel Judy Reid, Jane Harvey, counsel Emilie Maddox, Emma Butler and Andrew Craig, Caroline Hogan, Kellech Smith, Jason Cornwall-Jone, Campbell Johnston, Caroline Smart, Hong-Viet Nguyen, Ian Kellock, Philip Hardy and Jonathan Perkinson, Chris Baker, John Macpherson, Sonia Haque-Vatcher, Elena Lambros, Steven Blackburn, Avideep Agarwal, and Gwladys Ngo Tedga Yagla, directors Andy Abeya, John Moore, Nayeem Mahmud, Michael Duggan, Bikram Choudhury, Kieran Francis, Khoon Leng Cheng, Andrew Karam, and Leon Franklin, executives Hasitha Perera, Ashley Davison, Chandni Dave, Joseph Seliong, Luke Warner, Jonathan Chan, Sanjay Vinoharan, Haseeb Chishti, Vanessa Noakes, Lauren Soon, Cathy Kim, Fiona Yau, Flora Zhang, and Michael Turner and specialist Meg Whelan, Anita Mirchandani, Gaby Stach, Lauren Kassulke and Josh Williams of Ashurst LLP acted as legal advisor to Nippon Life Insurance Company. Tracy Whiriskey and Yoshiyuki Asaoka of Linklaters LLP (Japan) acted as legal advisor to Resolution Life Group. Alexander Dye and Sean Ewen of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP acted as legal advisor to Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX).
Nippon Life Insurance Company completed the acquisition of remaining 77% stake in Resolution Life Group Holdings LP from Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) and other shareholders on October 31, 2024. Resolution Life's Australasian business will be combined with Nippon Life Insurance Australia and New Zealand Limited to form the Acenda Group. Acenda is a new primary life insurer open to new business and will be run as a joint venture between Nippon Life and Resolution Life. Resolution Life and its Board will continue under the leadership of Clive Cowdery as Chairman and CEO and Moses Ojeisekhoba as President. Three new directors have been appointed to the Board; Moses Ojeisekhoba, Betsy Ward and Shinsuke Hashizume. As part of the transaction, Gilles Dellaert, Michael Hovey and Ida Hoghooghi from Blackstone have resigned from the Board.