British life insurer Legal & General said on Friday it would sell its U.S. protection business to Japan’s Meiji Yasuda for $2.3 billion in cash, in one of the biggest strategic moves so far under CEO António Simões.
The companies will also form a strategic partnership, with Meiji Yasuda taking a 20% stake in L&G’s U.S. pension risk transfer (PRT) business, and the Japanese insurer planning to acquire around a 5% stake in L&G.
L&G said it plans to launch a share buyback programme worth an extra 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion) after the sale.
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to complete by the end of 2025.
“This strategic partnership brings together two highly complementary global businesses, with a shared ambition for growth,” Legal & General’s Simões said, adding it would help the companies capitalise on opportunities in the U.S. market and in global asset management.
L&G said the deal also reflected its plan to simplify its portfolio to focus on its core businesses.
The company said it would use 400 million pounds of the proceeds from the transaction to fund the U.S. PRT reinsurance arrangement.
L&G sold its UK housebuilder CALA Group in a deal worth 1.35 billion pounds last September to an acquisition vehicle led by U.S. private asset firm Sixth Street Partners.
($1 = 0.8046 pounds)
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong）
