Nippon Life Insurance Company is planning an additional commitment of $1 billion in Resolution Life, a life and annuity insurance consolidation business that recently announced a strategic partnership with Blackstone.
Nippon Life has been the largest investor in Resolution Life and has invested $650 million so far. This additional $1 billion commitment is expected to bring the global insurer’s cumulative investment to $1.65 billion.
“I am honored to have the continued partnership of Nippon Life, an institution I admire and respect,” said Sir Clive Cowdery, founder and executive chairman of Resolution Life. “There is a strong foundation of shared values, clarity of vision and breadth of capabilities across our organizations.”
Blackstone is now Resolution Life’s investment manager for certain key areas, including directly originated assets across the private credit, real estate and asset-based finance markets. Blackstone will manage an initial target of up to $25 billion Resolution Life’s existing private assets in the first year of the partnership, which is expected to increase to over $60 billion over the next six years.
Nippon’s investment is subject to regulatory approvals and is anticipated to be made in the second half of 2023.
“We thank Nippon Life — a leader in global life insurance — for their partnership as we work with Clive and his team to help drive the continued growth of Resolution Life,” said Gilles Dellaert, global head of Blackstone Insurance Solutions. “We believe Blackstone’s private credit and asset origination capabilities can help deliver increased value to investors and greater financial security to policyholders in the years ahead.”
Resolution Life and Blackstone plan to raise $3 billion of new equity capital for Resolution Life. This includes the add-on $1 billion from Nippon Life and a $500 million strategic investment from Blackstone. The enhanced capital base will allow Resolution Life to rapidly scale its global growth path in a highly active acquisition market, officials said.
