Investment firm Sixth Street, the principal shareholder of Lifetri, and financial provider Achmea, have established a pension and life insurance joint venture in the Netherlands.
According to the announcement, this move will see Lifetri, with a balance sheet of approximately €2 billion, and Achmea merge their pension and life portfolios into a resultant joint venture called Achmea Pension & Life Insurance.
From what we understand, Achmea will hold an 80% stake in the joint venture, while Sixth Street will acquire the remaining 20% by paying €445 million to Achmea.
Customer services for Lifetri’s existing 500,000 consumers will reportedly continue under the Centraal Beheer brand, which is known for its digital platform that offers insurance, savings and investment products.
Moreover, Achmea Pension & Life Insurance expects to increase its capital generation by approximately €100 million, starting from 2028.
The joint venture is expected to provide an additional option for funds considering a pension buyout, with a focus on the field of risk and capital management, asset management, and customer-focused solutions.
As well as this, both Achmea and Sixth Street will also collaborate on the investments for the joint venture, which is expected to generate additional opportunities for value creation and growth in the pension and annuity market.
The transaction is contingent to advisory processes with works councils and regulatory approvals which are expected in the second half of 2025.
Following the closure of the transaction, the employees of Lifetri will join Achmea, and the transfer of customers will also commence. The initial impact on Achmea’s capital position is expected to be limited.
In addition, J.P. Morgan is acting as financial advisor and De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek are acting as legal advisor to Achmea, while PwC is supporting Achmea with various services.
Aperghis & Co and BofA Securities are acting as financial advisors, and Stibbe, NautaDutilh, and Cleary Gottlieb are acting as legal advisors to Sixth Street, and Deloitte is supporting Sixth Street with various services, while Milliman is supporting the firm with actuarial services too.
Bianca Tetteroo, Chair of Achmea’s Executive Board, commented: “This is a great outcome of the strategic exploration that we have carried out over the past year. We will add more than half a million Lifetri customers, whom will receive a warm welcome from Centraal Beheer. Like us, Sixth Street is committed to long-term value creation and has extensive knowledge of the pension and life sector. In that respect, we are a good match and we complement each other in terms of what we bring to the joint venture. We can benefit from economies of scale and synergy that are important for our service books. There are also various concrete growth opportunities. I am looking forward to seizing these opportunities together.”
Rutger Zomer, CEO of Lifetri, said: “This setup brings together the best of both worlds. A customer-centric approach, combined with capital strength and asset origination capabilities, creates good value for our customers. This is a positive outcome of the strategic reassessment we announced earlier this year.”
Michael Muscolino, Co-founder and Partner at Sixth Street, added: “This is a significant development for Lifetri’s policyholders and also opens up new opportunities for collaboration between Sixth Street and Achmea. We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to partner with the Achmea team, whose values and culture align closely with what we have built at Sixth Street. The joint venture has all the expertise necessary to successfully provide solutions to the Dutch pension and life market, where we continue to see significant opportunities for growth.”
