Chesnara has agreed to buy MetLife's closed-book UK life insurance business, in the consolidator's fourth acquisition in two years. The Preston-based life and pensions group said on Friday it would acquire 100 per cent of the share capital of MetLife UK Limited from MetLife Inc.

What is being bought

The deal covers only MetLife UK's closed book, which stopped taking new customers in 2017. It manages around 18,000 customer policies with £1.7 billion of assets under administration, made up of unit-linked investment policies with optional guarantees, plus variable annuities. MetLife's ongoing UK protection business is not part of the sale, and MetLife will continue to service those customers.

The financial terms

The price was not disclosed. Chesnara said the consideration was not expected to be material, and that the deal should add about £45 million to both its own funds and its contractual service margin on completion, with a broadly neutral impact on its solvency ratio. The group expects the portfolio to generate around £90 million of lifetime cash flows, with roughly half emerging in the first five years after completion.

When it completes

Completion is expected in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval. Chesnara said the acquisition would add scale and diversification to its UK operations. Chief executive Steve Murray described it as the group's fourth announced transaction in two years, following the £260 million purchase of HSBC Life UK, which completed in January 2026.

A consolidator's strategy

Chesnara specialises in buying and running off closed life books — portfolios that are no longer sold to new customers — and collecting the cash they generate as policies mature. The MetLife deal continues that model, adding a further book of long-term policies to a group that has been steadily expanding through acquisition.