Japanese life insurer Daiichi Life Group will pay $630 million for Fidelity Life, bringing two of New Zealand’s major adviser-distributed life insurers under common ownership.

Partners Group Holdings (PNZ), the holding company of Partners Life, has agreed to acquire all 4.49 million shares in Fidelity Life Assurance Company. 

The deal will be funded through a capital injection from Daiichi Life into PNZ, which will then acquire Fidelity Life. Subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions, completion is expected between March and July next year.

For Daiichi Life, the rationale is both about increasing scale in New Zealand and combining two businesses with complementary adviser distribution networks.

Daiichi Life says, in an announcement in Japan, that Fidelity brings particular strength among suburban and regional advisers, along with group insurance and customer segments which complement Partners Life's existing distribution.

The presentation accompanying the announcement describes Partners Life as having an "IFA-focused distribution platform" supported by digital technology, while Fidelity's strengths include suburban and regional IFAs, group insurance channels and distinct customer segments.

Daiichi says combining the two will expand coverage across regions, channels and customer segments.

No mention is made about Partners having an insurance relationship with BNZ while Fidelity bought Westpac's life business.

The acquisition is expected to deliver a significant earnings lift. Daiichi estimates Fidelity Life will contribute about $60 million a year in adjusted profit, potentially as early as the period covered by its next medium-term management plan.

That compares with Fidelity Life's latest reported insurance revenue of $459 million and net profit after tax of $14 million for the year ended June 2025. It had $758 million of total assets and $221 million of net assets.

Partners is already the larger of the two businesses. For the year ended March 2026, it reported insurance revenue of $615 million, NPAT of $35 million, total assets of $1.46 billion and net assets of $806 million.

Daiichi says the acquisition will create a stronger platform for long-term growth and increase its ability to invest in customer propositions, distribution and operational capabilities. It also expects the deal to expand its overseas earnings base and improve capital efficiency and sustainable profit growth.

The acquisition fits into Daiichi's wider international strategy. It wants its international life insurance businesses to generate about 50% of group adjusted profit by fiscal 2030, using a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.

The New Zealand market itself is growing. Daiichi's presentation, using Financial Services Council data, puts annual life insurance premiums excluding medical insurance at $3.31 billion as at March 2026, up 2.7% year-on-year, with about four million policies in force.

Fidelity Life is currently 49.62% owned by the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, which manages the NZ Super Fund. Ngāi Tahu Investments owns 24.93%, the Fidelity Family Account 14.64%, and other shareholders hold the remaining 10.81%.