Nippon Life to Acquire Stake in Money Manager TCW From Carlyle

(Bloomberg) -- Nippon Life Insurance Co. agreed to buy a minority stake in TCW Group Inc. from Carlyle Group LP to strengthen its asset management operations and diversify revenue sources.

The Japanese insurer will acquire 24.75 percent of the Los Angeles-based money manager, it said in a statement in Tokyo on Friday, without disclosing financial terms. Carlyle will keep a 31.18 percent stake. The deal is valued at around 55 billion yen ($490 million), a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Nippon Life has been buying companies abroad as Japan’s declining population and low interest rates damp prospects at home. It was the third-largest shareholder of Des Moines, Iowa-based insurer Principal Financial Group Inc. as of September, with a 6.3 percent stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Japanese insurer bought a majority stake in Australia’s MLC Ltd. for A$2.2 billion ($1.7 billion) in 2015.

Washington-based Carlyle bought 60 percent of TCW from Societe Generale SA in 2013, ending more than a decade of ownership by the French bank. The deal valued TCW at $780 million, according to a presentation at the time. After Nippon Life completes its transaction, TCW management and employees will own 44.07 percent of the firm, the insurer said.

Formed in 1971, TCW has $192 billion under management, Nippon Life said in the statement. Under Carlyle’s majority ownership, TCW expanded its alternatives business and worked with the buyout firm to offer vehicles that give ordinary investors access to hedge fund-like bets. 

--With assistance from Cathy Chan Melissa Mittelman and John Gittelsohn

To contact the reporters on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net, Komaki Ito in Tokyo at kito@bloomberg.net, Gareth Allan in Tokyo at gallan11@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Marcus Wright at mwright115@bloomberg.net, Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net, Russell Ward

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