Krispy Kreme investor to acquire Roanoke’s Shenandoah Life in deal

JAB Holding Co., the Luxembourg-based holding company that owns a majority stake in Krispy Kreme doughnuts, plans to pay $3.1 billion to buy Prosperity Life Group, parent company of Roanoke-based Shenandoah Life Insurance, according to a filing made last month with the State Corporation Commission.

Applications for approval of acquisition of an insurer typically take between two and six months to complete “depending on their complexity and other factors that may need to be considered,” according to a spokesperson for the Virginia regulatory agency.

JAB Holding announced in February that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Prosperity Life Group, which includes Prosperity Life Group insurance companies and Prosperity Asset Management.

Acquiring Prosperity, which has over $25 billion in assets, is a “foundational part” of JAB’s strategy to build a global life insurance platform, according to the news release.

“The transaction, which we expect to close upon receipt of the requisite regulatory approvals, has no impact on Prosperity or Shenandoah Life’s business in Roanoke,” a spokesperson for Prosperity Life Group said in a statement Thursday.

Requests for comment were not returned by spokespersons for JAB Holding.

AM Best, a global credit rating agency specializing in the insurance industry, previously gave Shenandoah Life Insurance a financial strength rating of A-, or excellent, before placing the rating under review after the acquisition was announced.

Founded in 1916, Shenandoah Life hit troubled waters during the Great Recession and in 2009 was placed into a receivership, meaning it could not write new policies. By 2012, the company announced it had exited the receivership due to a $60 million capital infusion from its new owner, Prosperity Life Insurance Group.

The company had 284 employees at the start of the receivership, according to The Roanoke Times. Its workers once filled a large building on Brambleton Avenue, but that was sold to Carilion Clinic in 2015. At that time, only 90 employees worked there, an article in the Roanoke newspaper stated. A Prosperity Life Group spokesperson did not respond to a request for a current head count of Roanoke employees.

The company’s president and CEO is listed as Nicholas von Moltke, who is also  CEO of Prosperity Life Insurance and lives in New York City.

Shenandoah Life Insurance had $1.96 billion in assets at the end of 2024, according to its annual report filed with the SCC. It collected $315 million in premiums in 2024, with the largest chunk ($278 million) going for annuities.

An investor group led by Elliott Management bought Prosperity Life Insurance Group in 2019.