Protective to Acquire ShelterPoint

Acquisition of leading employee benefits provider will add a new business line for Protective, further diversifying its product mix

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Protective Life Corporation (“Protective”), a U.S. subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (“Dai-ichi”; TSE:8750), announced today that its principal subsidiary, Protective Life Insurance Company, entered into an agreement to acquire ShelterPoint Group, Inc., a leading provider of statutory disability, paid family and medical leave, as well as medical gap insurance products, among others. ShelterPoint Group, Inc. is the holding company of ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company and its wholly owned subsidiary ShelterPoint Insurance Company (together “ShelterPoint”).

“On our continued journey to grow our business and serve more people, we are thrilled to add new services to our portfolio through the acquisition of ShelterPoint,” said Rich Bielen, President & CEO of Protective. “We look forward to welcoming ShelterPoint’s customers and the company’s talented teammates to Protective upon closing.”

In the State of New York, ShelterPoint’s founding entity is a leading provider of statutorily required disability benefits law and paid family leave insurance, which employers are required to provide under New York state law. ShelterPoint is actively expanding into other states as part of its geographic and product expansion strategy in the paid family and medical leave space. ShelterPoint sells products through brokers and agents and is recognized for its high-performing customer service experience and a high level of expertise related to its products. Through relationships with approximately 200,000 businesses, ShelterPoint currently provides insurance and income replacement products to nearly two million individuals across the country.¹

“As more states are requiring Paid Family and Medical Leave insurance, we’re excited to receive the strong support of Protective on our path to making this essential benefit available in a growing number of states,” said Rich White, Executive Chairman of the Board of ShelterPoint.

“This transaction will ring in and accelerate an inspiring new chapter for our company,” adds Leston Welsh, CEO of ShelterPoint. “At the same time, this transaction is expected to empower ShelterPoint to even further enhance its longstanding DBL/PFL capabilities² that customers have come to trust and rely on when needing to take leave.”

Once closed, the transaction will mark Protective’s 60^th acquisition. It will be the seventh deal completed since Protective became a part of Tokyo-based Dai‑ichi in 2015. Dai-ichi, a global leader with over $463 billion in total assets, as of Dec. 31, 2023, serves customers in 10 countries, with Protective as its U.S.-based subsidiary.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year, pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Until the closing, both businesses will maintain separate operations.

Serving as external legal counsel for Protective were Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Maynard Nexsen PC. ShelterPoint is a portfolio company of Eos Partners and its affiliates, a New York based private investment firm. ShelterPoint was represented by Winston & Strawn LLP and Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. Financial advisors for this deal included Fenchurch Advisory Partners US LP for Protective and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC for ShelterPoint.

About Protective

Protective has helped people achieve protection and security in their lives for 117 years. Through its subsidiaries, Protective offers life insurance, annuity and asset protection solutions and is helping more than 14.4 million people protect what matters most. Protective’s more than 3,800 employees put people first and deliver on the company’s promises to customers, partners, colleagues and communities - because we’re all protectors. With a long-term focus, financial stability and commitment to doing the right thing, Protective Life Corporation, a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TSE:8750), has $118 billion in assets, as of Dec. 31, 2023. Protective is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and supported by a robust virtual workforce and core sites in the greater Cincinnati area and St. Louis. For more information about Protective, visit www.protective.com.

About ShelterPoint

The ShelterPoint family of companies consists of its founding entity ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company (principal office in Garden City, NY), and its wholly-owned subsidiary ShelterPoint Insurance Company (a FL-domiciled carrier), depending on the state. The ShelterPoint family of companies operates under the “ShelterPoint” name strictly as a marketing name, and no legal significance is expressed or implied. ShelterPoint’s holding company, ShelterPoint Group, Inc. is not a licensed insurance entity. ShelterPoint specializes in statutory benefit programs in the Paid Family and Medical Leave space in a growing number of states. Since in 1972, ShelterPoint’s founding entity has grown into New York’s largest² carrier of statutory Short-Term Disability Insurance (called DBL, short for Disability Benefits Law), and has provided state-mandated Paid Family Leave³ (PFL, for short) since it became required in 2018. As a result, in NY alone, more than 196,000 employers with 2 million employees¹ trust ShelterPoint to help them strike the right balance between coverage and cost to comply with state regulations and complete their benefit equation. For more information about ShelterPoint, please visit www.ShelterPoint.com.

¹ Based on ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company DBL/PFL policyholder and certificate holder count as of 12/31/23 – applies to ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company only.

² State of New York Workers’ Compensation Board, form DB-680, 2016 – applies to ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company only.

³ Applies to ShelterPoint Life Insurance Company only.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of the management of the companies involved, and are, therefore, subject to certain risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond their control, affect their operations, performance, business strategy, and results and could cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Risks may include, but are not limited to uncertainties in connection with: disposing of business activities, certain strategic reorientation measures; the performance of its equity interests and strategic alliances; the challenge of integrating major acquisitions, implementing joint ventures, and other significant portfolio measures; the introduction of competing products or technologies by other companies or market entries by new competitors; changing competitive dynamics; the risk that new products or services will not be accepted by customers targeted by the company and its subsidiaries; changes in business strategy; its relationships with governmental bodies and customers; developments in the health care market, legislation, and regulation; changes to the independent insurance broker/agent industry; approvals of the New York State Insurance Department and Insurance Departments of other states; and various other factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the relevant forward-looking statement as expected, anticipated, intended, planned, believed, sought, estimated or projected. The companies neither intend to, nor assumes any obligation to, update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments that differ from those anticipated.

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Source: Protective Life Corporation