Dai-ichi Life To Buy Protective Life For $70/Shr Cash - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co Ltd agreed to buy Protective Life Corp (PL) for $70.00 per share in cash, or a total transaction value of about $5.7 billion. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2014 or early 2015.

Protective Life said that the transaction consideration represents a 34% premium over Protective's unaffected closing stock price of $52.30 on May 30.

Protective Life stated that this strategic transaction will create the 13th largest global insurer, with Greater Scale and Resources to Capture Future Growth. Protective will become Dai-ichi Life's platform for growth in the United States and Protective's President and Chief Executive Officer John Johns and the current management team will continue to lead the business from Protective's current headquarters.

The transaction will include a pre-vote "market check" designed to afford an opportunity for other bidders to determine whether they are interested in proposing to acquire Protective. Accordingly, the Merger Agreement provides the company an opportunity to solicit competing proposals. In the event the company accepts a competing proposal the break-up fee would be $140 million.

Dai-ichi Life intends to fund the transaction through cash in hand and supplementary sources if necessary.