January 23, 2018
Willkie advises Protective Life in the transaction.
On January 19, Protective Life Corporation, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc. (TSE:8750), announced that it has reached an agreement with Liberty Mutual Insurance Group and Lincoln Financial Group to acquire substantially all of the individual life and annuity business of Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston through a $1.17 billion reinsurance deal. The deal was announced in conjunction with Lincoln Financial Group's acquisition of Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston from Liberty Mutual Insurance Group for $3.3 billion.
Lincoln Financial will retain Liberty’s Group Benefits business and reinsure Liberty’s Individual Life and Annuity business to Protective Life Insurance Company. The addition of the individual life and annuity business segments will provide Protective the opportunity for growth and expansion through these segments in the future. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018, pending regulatory approvals.
Willkie previously advised Dai-ichi Life in the $5.7 billion acquisition of Protective Life in 2014.
Protective Life Corporation provides financial services through the production, distribution and administration of insurance and investment products throughout the U.S. Its home office is located in Birmingham, Alabama. As of December 31, 2016 it had assets of approximately $75 billion.
The Willkie deal team is led by partners Alexander Dye and Rajab Abbassi, and included partners Allison Tam, Christopher Peters, Jordan Messinger, Eugene Chang, counsel Christopher Petito and Elizabeth Bannigan, and associates Hyejin Jennifer Kim, Rachel Dooley, Kapiljeet Dargan, Jonathan Kubek, Christina Castedo, Danielle Thomasma and Sherrone Torres.
