LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - British insurer Legal &

General ( LGGNF ) has entered into a private credit partnership

with Blackstone, the companies said in a statement on

Thursday, becoming the latest finance firm to bulk up in the

booming market of investors lending to companies.

L&G, which is also Britain's largest investment firm

with 1.1 trillion pounds ($1.5 trillion) of assets under

management, said the tie-up would help it strengthen in two

areas targeted by CEO Antonio Simoes: the United States and

private credit.

The British firm said its annuities business would

access investment-grade credit assets via Blackstone,

particularly in the U.S., investing up to 10% of the unit's new

business flows.

Simoes said in the statement that the partnership with

Blackstone would help it meet growing demand from clients for

public-private investment products.

"L&G will benefit from a more diverse pipeline of assets

for our annuity book, and growth in asset management as we

develop more sophisticated investment solutions for clients

around the world," Simoes said.

The partnership was first reported by Bloomberg News.

($1 = 0.7349 pounds)