Nippon Life agreed to buy the shares of Bermuda-based Resolution Life it did not already own for $8.2 billion, valuing the company at $10.6 billion. Resolution Life acquires and manages blocks of in-force life and annuity policies, with over $85 billion of reserves and operations in the US, Bermuda, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Its US institutional business will sit in a new Nippon Life division with the UK, Bermuda and Singapore operations. The deal Nippon Life already owned about 23% of Resolution Life, having invested about $1.65 billion over several years. It bought the remaining roughly 77% from the investment partnership that held it, paying about $8.2 billion (about ¥1.2 trillion). The deal closed on October 31, 2025. In a linked step, Nippon Life also bought 20% of Australian insurer MLC from National Australia Bank for about A$500 million and merged MLC with Resolution Life's Australian business under a new holding company. What Resolution Life does Resolution Life buys and runs closed books of life insurance and annuities, meaning policies that no longer take new customers. It manages more than $85 billion of reserves and over 4 million policies. Blackstone manages much of its investment portfolio. Founder Clive Cowdery stayed on as chairman and CEO. Growing in the US Nippon Life said the main aim was to grow in the US insurance market. Resolution Life's US, UK, Bermuda and Singapore operations became a new Nippon Life division. Buying closed books is a fast-growing business in the US, where many insurers are selling old policies to free up capital.
