Kuvare Agrees to Acquire Former Allstate Life Unit

Kuvare US Holdings Inc. says it’s planning to be a much bigger player in the U.S. life insurance market.

The Chicago-based life insurance holding company announced today that one of its affiliates, Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company, has agreed to acquire Lincoln Benefit Life Company, and Lincoln Benefit Life affiliates, from RL LP, for a price that was not disclosed.

Completing the deal would increase Kuvare’s life and annuity asset total to about $13 billion, from $3.7 billion in April 2018, according to Kuvare figures.

Kuvare said it expects Guaranty Income Life to close on the deal, which is subject to approval by the Nebraska Department of Insurance, by the end of the year.

Kuvare

Kuvare came to life in March 2016.

Since then, the company has acquired Guaranty Income Life of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and United Life Insurance Company, which was a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based unit of United Fire Group Inc.

Dhiren Jhaveri, Kuvare’s chief executive officer, said in an interview last year with ThinkAdvisor that Kuvare is using cash from private investors with very long time horizons to build a stable, well-capitalized life and annuity insurer that will focus on serving middle-market consumers.

Lincoln Benefit Life

Lincoln Benefit Life is a Lincoln, Nebraska-based carrier that was founded in 1938 and has administrative offices in Rosemont, Illinois.

A life insurer controlled by Allstate Corp. acquired Lincoln Benefit Life in 1984. The company’s Allstate Financial unit reported more than $1 billion in annual annuity sales in the early 2000s, but the annuity unit then suffered losses during the 2007-2009 Great Recession.

(Related: Allstate, Lincoln To Cut Jobs)

Kuvare Executive Statements

Kuvare’s CEO, Jhaveri, and the company’s chief operating officer, Carlos Sierra, issued statements implying that they see Lincoln Benefit Life, or LBL, as a going concern, rather than a block of business.

“The LBL organization has been a leader within the U.S. life insurance industry for decades, and the Lincoln Benefit brand is recognized throughout the country for insurance excellence,” Jhaveri said in his statement. “Over its 80-year track record, most recently under the ownership of RL LP, LBL has a rich tradition of offering high-quality policyholder service.”

Sierra said in his statement that Kuvare likes Lincoln Benefit Life’s nationwide scale and strong operating capabilities.

“LBL is a strong complement to Kuvare’s other insurance businesses and will help us achieve our long-term growth objectives,” Sierra said.