Headquarters of the Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company in Marunouchi business district in Chiyoda Ward">
Debevoise & Plimpton and Linklaters are representing 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 being advised by Clifford Chance.
As part of the agreement, Meiji Yasuda will acquire a five percent stake in the British asset management company, with the two parties establishing a strategic partnership under which Meiji Yasuda will take a 20 percent interest in L&G's U.S. pension risk transfer business, according to Reuters.
The transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approval, 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 and associates Natalie Tsang and Elliott Schreffler. Additional support comes from 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 UK aspects of the transaction.
Debevoise's team is spearheaded by insurance M&A partners Alexander Cochran and Kristen Matthews, alongside associate Alexandra Grady. The team also includes associates Kaéla Edwards and Nicole Gany and 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 is led by global co-heads of the insurance sector Tracy Whiriskey and Duncan Barber, as well as corporate partner Yoshiyuki Asaoka. Other lawyers supporting the transaction include capital markets partners Motoyasu Fujita and Kenneth Lam, antitrust and foreign investment senior counsel Jonathan Gafni, and partners John Eichlin and Marcus Pollard, as well as financial regulation partner Alastair Holt.
