Chesnara has agreed to buy HSBC Holdings' life insurance business in the UK, creating an entity with a combined GBP18 billion ($31.3 billion) of assets under administration.
The acquisition, valued at GBP260 million, would result in lifetime cash generation in excess of GBP800 million, London-listed Chesnara said in a statement on Thursday.
It will use GBP55 million of its own reserves, GBP65 million from an undrawn revolving credit facility and GBP140 million through a rights issue to help fund the purchase.
It is “an example of a major financial institution choosing to work with us, enhancing our reputation as a leading life and pensions consolidator,” Steve Murray, chief executive officer of Chesnara, said in the statement.
HSBC’s sale of its UK insurance business is the latest in a raft of asset disposals in Europe and North America as the British banking giant seeks to focus more on Asia.
It has agreed to sell its custody business and private banking operations in Germany to BNP Paribas SA.
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Late last year, it signed a deal to sell its French life insurance unit to Matmut Société d’Assurance Mutuelle for EUR925 million ($1.39 billion).
The acquisition will be Chesnara’s biggest to-date, and will bring on board about EUR4 billion of assets under administration and roughly 454,000 policies.
The deal is expected to conclude in early 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
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Established in 2004, Chesnara is a life insurance and pension consolidator with a presence in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands.
The company administered around 1 million life and pension policies and had £EUR4 billion of assets under administration as of the end of 2024, its website shows.
