Herbert Smith Freehills advises Tokyo-based T&D Holdings as consortium member on acquisition of German Viridium Group

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised T&D Holdings as part of a consortium with Allianz and BlackRock on the acquisition of a majority stake in Viridium Group from Cinven. With a transaction value of approximately €3.5 billion (headline price, including equity and debt financing), this is the largest transaction in the insurance sector for some time. Ownership is distributed among consortium members and financial investors, with T&D Holdings acquiring the largest share.

Existing shareholders Generali Financial Holdings and Hannover Re will remain invested in Viridium. Viridium will remain an independent platform led by the existing management team.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025. Closing is subject to the approval of the regulatory and antitrust authorities and other customary closing conditions.

Viridium Holding AG, headquartered in Neu-Isenburg, Germany, is a leading German life insurance portfolio manager with 3.4 million policyholders and €67 billion in assets under management (as of 2023). Viridium has 900 employees and consists of four life insurance companies (Proxalto, Entis, Heidelberger and Skandia) as well as a re-insurance company and an investment firm. Private equity investor Cinven acquired Viridium from Lloyds Banking Group in 2013.

T&D Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded life insurance group consisting of three life insurance companies in Japan: Taiyo Life Insurance Company, Daido Life Insurance Company and T&D Financial Life Insurance Company. The holding company, headquartered in Tokyo, is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and has a market capitalization of approximately €8.3 billion.

Advisor T&D Holdings:

Herbert Smith Freehills (Düsseldorf): Dr Christian Johnen (Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Dr Timo Bühler (Financial Regulatory Law, Frankfurt; both lead), Joseph Fisher (Corporate/M&A, Tokyo), Dr Marcel Nuys (Competition), Dr Florian Huerkamp (Counsel, Competition), Dr Fritz Kleweta (Finance, Frankfurt); Associates: Marjel Dema, Nastasja Bührmann (both Corporate/M&A), Friederieke Seen (Financial Regulatory Law, Frankfurt), Florian Möller (Finance, Frankfurt)