June 4, 2014
Willkie advises Tokyo-based Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited on acquisition of Protective Life Corporation.
On June 3, Willkie client Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited and Protective Life Corporation announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Dai-ichi Life will acquire all outstanding shares of Protective Life Corporation for $70.00 per share in cash, or a total transaction value of approximately $5.7 billion. Willkie and Baker & McKenzie, Dai-ichi’s longtime outside counsel, advised Tokyo-based Dai-ichi Life on the deal, which will create the 13th largest global insurer, with total assets of $424 billion. Protective Life will become Dai-ichi Life's platform for growth in the United States, where the company does not currently have a material operational presence.
Dai-ichi Life is the second largest private life insurance company in Japan and one of the top 20 global life insurers. The company operates throughout Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Thailand. Protective Life, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, offers a diverse portfolio of personalized products and services to meet the unique life insurance, retirement income and asset protection needs of individuals and families throughout the United States.
The deal was handled by partners Alexander Dye, Donald Henderson and Leah Campbell; of counsel Scott Avitabile and Christopher Petito; and associates Rachel Berk, Bhavna Agnihotri, Marit Spekman and Thomas Cantore.
