Alternative asset manager Hildene Capital Management has signed a definitive agreement to acquire annuities provider Silac Insurance, a U.S. life insurer that focuses heavily on fixed and fixed indexed annuities for retirement savers, for $550 mn in cash.
Silac operates in 48 states and the District of Columbia, giving Hildene a national footprint overnight.
Hildene says the deal pushes its insurance solutions platform into a new phase. The firm plans to apply its own investment and risk management playbook to support Silac’s growth and shore up balance sheet stability.
The transaction builds on a minority stake Hildene took in Silac in 2022. It also extends an existing reinsurance relationship between Silac and Hildene Re SPC, Hildene’s Cayman Islands-based reinsurer. This isn’t a cold start; the parties already know how each other operates.
Separately, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. plans to acquire a 50% interest in Hildene Holding Co. LLC once the Silac deal closes. Jefferies first entered a strategic relationship with Hildene in 2022, and this move deepens that tie in a meaningful way.
Management at Silac will shift. G. Daniel Acker, now president and chief marketing officer, will step into the chief executive role following closing.
He called the transaction an inflection point for the company. The language is familiar, though the timing matters.
According to Acker, the deal allows Silac to move faster on strategy and expand its capabilities as an annuities writer. Acceleration sounds good; execution is the test.
Closing is expected in mid-2026, subject to regulatory approvals and standard conditions. Once cleared, Hildene will acquire all outstanding common equity of Silac for the agreed $550mn cash price.
As of Sept. 30, Silac reported capital and surplus of $505mn and roughly $10bn in total admitted assets. In 2024, the company generated about $2.5bn in annuity sales, largely fixed indexed products.
That production base gives Hildene immediate scale in a segment that still draws strong retail demand, even as rates shift.
Brett Jefferson, president and co-chief investment officer at Hildene, says the acquisition strengthens Silac’s ability to serve policyholders over the long term while widening Hildene’s product menu and origination reach.
It’s a dual objective, policyholder stability on one side, platform economics on the other. Those goals don’t always line up cleanly, but the firm seems confident.
Jefferies will fund its 50% stake by exchanging its revenue share, part of its interest in a Hildene-managed private fund, and $340mn in cash.
Hildene’s principals will roll their existing ownership and contribute about $250mn in fund and related equity interests, retaining the remaining 50%. The structure leaves control split, incentives intertwined, and governance, maybe, a bit messier.
Back in 2022, Hildene also launched a life reinsurer designed to assume roughly $1bn of fixed indexed annuity reserves through a quota share with an unnamed U.S. life insurer. That earlier move hinted at where the firm was heading. This Silac acquisition makes it explicit.
Hildene Capital Management is a privately held alternative asset manager focused on multi-strategy credit, including structured credit, asset-based credit, and insurance solutions.
Founded in 2008 and based in Stamford, Connecticut, it manages institutional capital across hedge funds, drawdown vehicles, SMAs, insurance and securitization structures.
