Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is advising Protective Life Corporation (“Protective”) in a definitive agreement under which Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited (“Dai-ichi Life”) will acquire all outstanding shares of Protective for $70.00 per share in cash, or a total transaction value of approximately $5.7 billion.

This strategic transaction will create the 13th largest global insurer, with total assets of $424 billion. Protective will become Dai-ichi Life’s platform for growth in the United States, where Dai-ichi Life does not currently have a material operational presence. The transaction, which has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors, is expected to close by the end of 2014 or early 2015, subject to Protective stockholders' approval, regulatory approvals in Japan and the U.S., and other customary closing conditions.

Protective, whose primary subsidiary, Protective Life Insurance Company, was founded in 1907, is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama and 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 Debevoise team is led by partners Nicholas F. Potter and Jeffrey J. Rosen and includes partners Lawrence K. Cagney, Marilyn A. Lion and Peter F.G. Schuur, counsel Naomi Aoyama, and associates Sue Meng, Daniel Priest, Anjali Salooja and Michael G. Stern.