Sir Clive Cowdery set for windfall profits with £8.3bn sale of insurance firm Resolution Life to Japanese rival

British tycoon Sir Clive Cowdery could receive a huge windfall after the sale of his insurance company to a Japanese rival.

The businessman will remain as chief executive and chairman of insurer Resolution Life following the £8.3bn deal with Osaka-based Nippon Life.

The sale could net him a huge payout, possibly billions, although the exact figure remains a secret because the size of his stake is unknown.

The deal comes amid a series of acquisitions around the world, including British insurer Aviva’s recent £3.6bn bid for its smaller, struggling rival Direct Line.

Just this week US advertising firms Omnicom and Interpublic have agreed a partnership worth £10bn, while Cadbury owner Mondelez has been rejected in its bid by rival chocolate maker Hershey.

Set up by Cowdery in 2008, Resolution Life has around £67bn in assets under management and more than 4m insurance policies. He grew up acquiring portfolios of life insurance policies from insurers around the world.

The businessman also created the left-wing think tank Resolution Foundation, which says it is focused on improving the living standards of low- and middle-income households.

The research group calculates the real living wage, a voluntary hourly pay rate set above the Government’s official minimum wage bands.

Cowdery was knighted in 2016 for his services to children and social mobility.

He is also the editor of the current affairs magazine Prospect, run by former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger.

As director of the Best for Britain pressure group until 2021, Cowdery helped lead a campaign to stop Brexit.

As it is a private company, the size of its remaining stake in Resolution has not been made public. But he will likely receive a big payday thanks to a deal that values ​​him at £8.3bn.

Nippon Life, which already owns a 23 per cent stake, will buy the remaining shares for £6.4bn.

It plans to convert the Bermuda-based company into a wholly owned subsidiary by the end of 2025.

Other investors include US private equity giant Blackstone, which will remain its investment management partner after the acquisition.

Cowdery said: “The combination of Resolution Life’s strengths, Blackstone’s investment management expertise and a well-funded parent gives us the opportunity to accelerate growth and meet policyholder needs for decades to come.”

Nippon will also acquire the 20 per cent stake it does not own in MLC Life from National Australia Bank for around £250.6 million and merge it with Resolution Life Australasia to form Acenda, a life insurer.

This is the largest overseas acquisition by a Japanese insurer.