Meiji Yasuda Life Buys The Standard for $5 Billion

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire StanCorp, or The Standard, for $5 billion. Meiji Yasuda will acquire all outstanding shares of The Standard for $115 per share in cash. This represents a 50% premium to The Standard’s share price as of close of business on July 23, 2015 and a 49.9% premium to The Standard’s one-month-weighted average share price.

Founded in 1881 and headquartered in Tokyo, Meiji Yasuda is the oldest and third-largest life insurance company in Japan. The Standard, founded in 1906 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is a provider of insurance, retirement and investment products and services. Its subsidiaries include Standard Retirement Services, Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, StanCorp Mortgage Investors, StanCorp Investment Advisers, StanCorp Real Estate and StanCorp Equities.

Once the deal closes, The Standard will become Meiji Yasuda’s primary U.S. presence and partner, and it will continue to operate under The Standard brand. No changes to The Standard’s operations are anticipated. Greg Ness, The Standard’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, will continue to lead the business with the current management team.

“We are very pleased to welcome The Standard to the Meiji Yasuda family and to make them a key pillar of our international operations,” said Akio Negishi, president of Meiji Yasuda. “We have been studying opportunities in the U.S. market for some time, and The Standard stood out as our ideal partner.”

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016.