Debevoise & Plimpton and Linklaters are advising Japanese insurer Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company on its $2.28 billion all-cash acquisition of the U.S. protection business of Legal & General, which is represented by Clifford Chance.
As part of the agreement, Meiji Yasuda will also acquire a five percent stake in the British asset management company. The two parties will establish a strategic partnership, where Meiji Yasuda will take a 20 percent interest in L&G’s U.S. pension risk transfer business, according to Reuters.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of 2025.
Clifford Chance’s advisory team is led by relationship partner Anthony Oldfield, with support from M&A partner Joe Cosentino and insurance and investment management partners Dennis Manfredi and Jeffrey LeMaster. The team also includes senior associate Christine Kim, associates Natalie Tsang and Elliott Schreffler, tax partner Phil Wagman, and antitrust counsel Michael Van Arsdall. London-based lead relationship partner David Pudge and senior associate Niall O’Shea are handling U.K. aspects.
Debevoise’s team is spearheaded by insurance M&A partners Alexander Cochran and Kristen Matthews, alongside associate Alexandra Grady. The team includes associates Kaéla Edwards and Nicole Gany, law clerk Benjamin Oh, employee benefits and executive compensation partner Simone Hicks and associate Ally Farley, tax partner Lena Smith and associates Corey Mavleos and Robert Nelson-Sullivan, intellectual property partner Henry Lebowitz and associate Katelyn Bryant, and national security partner Rick Sofield and associate Jordan Corrente Beck.
The Linklaters team includes global co-heads of the insurance sector Tracy Whiriskey and Duncan Barber, as well as corporate partner Yoshiyuki Asaoka. Other lawyers include capital markets partners Motoyasu Fujita and Kenneth Lam, antitrust and foreign investment senior counsel Jonathan Gafni, partners John Eichlin and Marcus Pollard, and financial regulation partner Alastair Holt.
