Protective Life Enters Agreement with Great-West to Reinsure Individual Life Insurance and Annuity Business

On Jan. 24, 2019, Protective Life, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc., announced that it has reached an agreement under where it will acquire via reinsurance substantially all of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company’s (GWL&A) individual life insurance and annuity business. A link to the Protective Life press release is here.

The business to be transferred includes bank-owned and corporate-owned life insurance, single premium life insurance, individual annuities, and a portion of Great-West’s closed block life insurance and annuities. GWL&A will retain a block of participating policies, which will be administered by Protective. Following the deal, Great West will focus on the retirement and asset-management markets in the U.S., according to its CEO Paul Mahon.

The transaction represents an estimated capital investment by Protective of approximately $1.2B, and will be the largest acquisition in company history. It will also mark Protective’s entrance into the executive benefits market.

The closing is expected to occur in the first half of 2019, subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.