The deal aligns with Meiji’s MY Mutual Way Phase II business plan. Credit: Casimiro PT/Shutterstock.

UK insurer Legal & General Group (L&G) has reached an agreement to sell its US insurance operations to Japan’s Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company.  

The deal, valued at $2.3bn (£1.85bn), will see Meiji Yasuda acquire a 100% stake in L&G’s Legal & General America and its units, including Banner Life, as well as a 20% stake in the US pension risk transfer (PRT) business. 

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Furthermore, the Japanese mutual insurer plans to acquire 5% of L&G’s shares from the market.  

Meiji said the deal aligns with its MY Mutual Way Phase II business plan, which aims for “sustainable growth” by increasing market share in domestic life insurance, enhancing asset management and growing its overseas insurance business. 

Set up in 1949, Banner Life operates individual insurance and PRT businesses across all 50 US states and will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Meiji Yasuda post acquisition. 

Meiji Yasuda added that this acquisition provides it with access to a business platform developed by Banner Life and digital technologies, strengthening its position in the US insurance market. 

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Furthermore, the partnership is expected to extend to asset management, with Meiji Yasuda outsourcing the investment management of US PRT and protection assets to L&G, forming a long-term partnership in global private assets. 

Meanwhile, following the acquisition, L&G plans an additional £1bn share buyback and aims to return approximately 40% of its market capitalisation to shareholders through dividends and buybacks between 2025 and 2027. 

Legal & General CEO António Simões said: “This strategic partnership brings together two highly complementary global businesses, with a shared ambition for growth, and will enable us to capitalise on the large market opportunities in US Pension Risk Transfer while driving scale and profitability in global asset management.” 

Meiji Yasuda CEO and president Hideki Nagashima said: “We are pleased to announce this landmark transaction, which will accelerate Meiji Yasuda’s international growth strategy – strengthening our position in the US life insurance market, deepening our long-standing partnership with L&G in asset management, and enabling access to the US PRT market, where we will benefit from L&G’s market-leading expertise to unlock sustainable growth together.” 

The transaction is expected to be completed between the fourth quarter of 2025 and early 2026, pending regulatory approval.  

Post acquisition, L&G will focus solely on serving retail customers in its home market of Britain, Simões told Reuters. 

Last month, Meiji Yasuda made headlines after reports that it was considering a 5% wage increase for all 47,000 employees in the upcoming fiscal year starting in April.