TOKYO (Reuters) -Nippon Life Insurance (NS:LIFI) 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 (NYSE:BX) 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.
The deal is the latest example of heavyweight Japanese insurance companies going abroad in search of acquisitions in faster-growing markets, given the limited chance for expansion at home where the population is shrinking and ageing.
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.
Resolution Life and Blackstone declined to comment on the report.
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.
The U.S. market has been a particular buyout focus for Japanese insurance firms.
Property and casualty insurer Tokio Marine Holdings bought speciality insurer HCC Insurance Holdings for $7.5 billion in 2015. It also paid $2.7 billion in 2011 for Delphi Financial and bought Philadelphia Consolidated for $4.7 billion in 2008.
Nippon Life has spent $1.65 billion to acquire 23% of Resolution Life up to now. 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.