Clive Cowdery enters the States with $600m life insurance deal
INSURANCE tycoon Clive Cowdery yesterday revealed his $600m (£395m) purchase of Lincoln Benefit Life from financial services group Allstate.
The deal represents Cowdery’s entrance into the US market after a decade of shaking up the industry in Britain.
A swathe of insurers have put life businesses up for sale in the face of low returns, thanks to the extended period of low interest rates that shows few signs of coming to an end.
The group hopes the move will reduce its exposure to interest rates, which have hurt the sector in recent years.
The sale is expected to be concluded by the end of the year, the firm said yesterday.
Allstate expects the sale to bring it $785m in cash proceeds thanks to tax benefits.
The largest publicly traded home and car insurer in the US will also get a boost of $1bn in terms of deployable capital.