Allianz, BlackRock and T&D Holdings buy out Cinven's Viridium stake

By Aidan Gregory

March 19 - (The Insurer) - A consortium led by Allianz, BlackRock and T&D Holdings has agreed to acquire Cinven’s majority stake in Viridium Group, the German closed life book consolidator, for 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion).

In a joint statement on Wednesday, the trio said that they would join Generali and Hannover Re as investors in Viridum by buying out Cinven’s stake.

Following the buyout, Viridium will continue to trade as a standalone company, with its ownership distributed across the consortium. The precise split has not been publicly disclosed, but T&D Holdings will assume the largest share, Viridium said.

The 3.5 billion euro deal will facilitate Cinven’s exit from Viridium after over a decade of involvement, which began when the private equity firm acquired Neu-Isenburg-based life insurance company Heidelberger Leben in 2014.

Heidelberger Leben was later renamed Viridium and the company was repositioned as a leading consolidator of closed life books in Germany through its acquisitions of Skandia, Entis and Proxalto, which was formerly known as Generali Leben.

Viridium has 67 billion euros of assets under management, with 3.4 million policies and more than 900 staff.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.

Cost, interest rate and regulatory pressures over the last decade have pushed European insurers to free up capital via the sale of their closed life insurance books, fuelling the emergence of several large consolidators, including Viridium in Germany and Phoenix Group Holdings in the UK.

Goldman Sachs and Fenchurch were advisers to Cinven on its exit from Viridium.