LIFE insurance asset managers Abacus Settlements and Longevity Market Assets are in talks to go public through a 3-way merger with a blank-cheque company backed by the owner of the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, sources have said.

The companies are in talks for a combination with East Resources Acquisition Corp in a deal that would value the new company at about US$618 million, including debt, the sources said, on condition of anonymity. Proceeds from the deal will be used to scale the business, start a media campaign and roll out blockchain infrastructure, they said.

Shares of the combined company are expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol ABAL when the merger is completed, they said.

Representatives for Abacus, Longevity and East Resources declined to comment.

Special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACS) have slumped this year after a bumper 2021. Deal activity in the space has fallen about 83 per cent year on year to about US$16 billion in announced deals, going by Bloomberg data. 

Abacus, based in Orlando, Florida, buys life insurance policies that holders no longer want to pay for. Instead of paying premiums until they die, the holders can get paid for their policies by Abacus at a market rate. Abacus buys policies from individuals as well as insurer partners, typically at a discount of about 20 per cent, the people said.

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East Resources is led by Terry Pegula, who owns the Bills as well as the National Hockey League’s Buffalo Sabres. With a net worth of US$7.7 billion, Pegula made his fortune through natural gas producer East Resources Inc, said the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His SPAC raised US$345 million, including so-called greenshoe shares, in an initial public offering in 2020.  BLOOMBERG