Chesnara agrees to buy MetLife UK's £1.7bn closed life book
The 18,000 policy business closed to new sales in 2017, and completion is expected in the first half of 2027 subject to regulatory approval.
Chesnara has agreed to buy MetLife UK Limited, the closed-book UK life insurer owned by MetLife, Inc., it said in a stock exchange announcement on 6 November. Completion is expected in the first half of 2027, subject to UK regulatory approval.
MetLife UK has about 18,000 policies and £1.7bn of assets under administration at 31 December 2025, Chesnara said. The book is unit-linked policies with optional guarantees and variable annuities, closed to new business in 2017. MetLife's ongoing UK protection business is not part of the deal.
Chesnara expects lifetime cash flows of about £90m, around half of it in the first five years after completion, and an increase of about £45m in Own Funds and Contractual Service Margin at completion. It expects a broadly neutral effect on its Solvency II ratio and said the consideration, subject to customary adjustments, is not expected to be material. It is Chesnara's fourth announced transaction in two years.
An existing reinsurance arrangement covering guarantee risk on the variable annuity portfolio, with a European reinsurer rated AA by S&P and Fitch, stays in place. SS&C, Chesnara's UK outsourcing partner, already administers the policies.
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Sources
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