Baker & McKenzie and Willkie Farr & Gallagher are representing Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. on its proposed $5.7 billion takeover of Birmingham, Ala.-based Protective Life Corp. If approved, the deal would give Dai-ichi its first entry into the U.S. life insurance market. The transaction is expected to close later this year or in early 2015, pending shareholder and regulatory approval in Japan and the United States. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the deal. Baker & McKenzie’s team advising Dai-ichi is being led by Tokyo partner Jiro Toyokama and Chicago partner Craig Roeder. New York partner Alexander Dye is leading the Willkie team on the deal. Debevoise & Plimpton New York partners Jeffrey Rosen and Nicholas Potter are acting for Protective. [Read full story]
Australia
Minter Ellison and Johnson Winter & Slattery have the lead roles on Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing’s $2.2 proposed billion acquisition of Australian natural gas distributor Envestra Ltd. A group of companies controlled by Li, including Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. and Power Assets Holdings Ltd., trumped an earlier $1.8 billion offer for the outstanding 83 percent of Envestra’s shares made by Australia’s APA Group. Li, Asia’s richest man with a fortune estimated at $29 billion, already owns the other 17 percent of Adelaide-based Envestra, which operates 23,000 kilometers of gas pipelines in the states of Victoria and South Australia. Minter Ellison Melbourne partners Marcus Best, Bart Oude-Vrielink and Stewart Nankervis are representing Cheung Kong. Johnson Winter & Slattery Sydney partners John Keeves and Tim Bowley are representing Envestra. [Read full story]
