Insurer Abacus nears deal with Buffalo Bills owner's SPAC

Life insurance asset managers Abacus Settlements and Longevity Market Assets agreed to go public through a three-way merger with a blank-check company backed by the owner of the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills.

The companies will combine with East Resources Acquisition Corp. in a deal that would value the new company at about $618 million, including debt, according to a statement Tuesday, confirming a Bloomberg News report. 

The combined company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol ABAL after the merger closes as early as the fourth quarter.

Special purpose acquisition companies have slumped this year after a bumper 2021. Deal activity in the space has fallen about 83% year-over-year to about $16 billion in announced deals, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

Going public via a SPAC gives the company more time to share its story with investors, according to Abacus Chief Executive Officer Jay Jackson.  

“We felt most importantly, having the right sponsor would be very fundamental,” Jackson said in an interview. “Secondly, it was how could we drive awareness about this opportunity and educate. In a traditional IPO, that window would’ve been really tight. Here, we’ve got a longer window to share our story.”

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%.

“This is an incredibly beneficial consumer product,” said James Morrow, a director of East Resources Acquisition. “Folks are able to monetize a policy that they may not have known had value.” 

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 $7.7 billion, Pegula made his fortune through natural gas producer East Resources Inc., according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His SPAC raised $345 million including so-called greenshoe shares in an initial public offering in 2020. 

Aviditi Advisors advised East Resources on the Abacus deal.