Sir Clive Cowdery expects huge windfall after £8.3bn sale of insurance company Resolution Life to Japanese rival
British tycoon Sir Clive Cowdery could receive a huge windfall after selling his insurance company to a Japanese rival.
The entrepreneur will remain as CEO and chairman of insurer Resolution Life following its £8.3 billion deal with Osaka-based Nippon Life.
The sale could net him a huge payout – possibly billions – although the exact amount remains secret as the size of his stake is unknown.
The deal comes amid a wave of takeovers around the world, including British insurer Aviva’s recent £3.6 billion bid for smaller, struggling rival Direct Line.
This week alone, US advertising agencies Omnicom and Interpublic agreed a £10 billion partnership, while Cadbury owner Mondelez has been rejected in its bid for rival chocolate maker Hershey.
Resolution Life, founded by Cowdery in 2008, has around £67 billion in assets under management and more than 4 million insurance policies. It grew by buying up books of life insurance policies around the world from insurers.
Cash in: Sir Clive Cowdery to stay on as CEO and chairman of insurer Resolution Life following £8.3bn sale to Osaka-based Nippon Life
The businessman also founded the left-wing think tank Resolution Foundation, which he says focuses on improving the living standards of low- to middle-income households.
The research group calculates the real living wage, a voluntary hourly wage that is above the government’s official minimum wage margins.
Cowdery was knighted in 2016 for services to children and social mobility.
He is also the publisher of current affairs magazine Prospect, run by former Guardian editor Alan Russell.
As director of lobby group Best for Britain until 2021, Cowdery helped lead a campaign to stop Brexit.
Because it is a private company, the size of its remaining stake in Resolution has not been made public. But he is likely to receive a huge reward from a deal that values it at £8.3 billion.
Nippon Life, which already has a 23 percent stake, will buy the remainder of the shares for £6.4 billion.
It plans to make the Bermuda-based company a wholly owned subsidiary by the end of 2025.
Other investors include US private equity giant Blackstone, which will remain its investment management partner following the acquisition.
Cowdery said: ‘Combining the strengths of Resolution Life, Blackstone’s investment management expertise and a well-funded parent company gives us the opportunity to accelerate growth and serve the needs of policyholders for decades to come.’
Nippon will also acquire the 20 percent stake it does not own in MLC Life from National Australia Bank for approximately £250.6 million and merge it with Resolution Life Australasia to form Acenda, a life insurer.
It is the largest foreign acquisition ever by a Japanese insurer.
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