Sidley and Slaughters among firms advising on £5.7bn deal for UK insurer

European insurance group Athora has struck a £5.7 billion deal to acquire Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) from a consortium including CVC, in one of the UK’s biggest deals so far this year.

Announced on Thursday (3 July), the acquisition will see Athora - which is backed by private capital giant Apollo - take on PIC’s £50 billion portfolio, backing the pensions of 400,000 people. PIC is a specialist insurer that works with defined benefit pension schemes to help them manage pension liabilities and de-risk their schemes.

Athora’s move comes after the Financial Times reported that a string of private capital suitors including Carlyle, KKR and Brookfield, as well as Apollo, were mulling potential bids for PIC at the end of 2023.

Advising

Sidley Austin is acting for Athora, led by Chicago-based partners Perry Shwachman (private equity) and Sean Carney (private equity/insurance) as well as London-based Ramy Wableh (private equity).

An A&O Shearman team led by London insurance partners Philip Jarvis (global insurance head) and Kate McInerney, and corporate partners Seth Jones and Stephen Mathews, also advised Athora.

Slaughters is advising the consortium of sellers. The team includes partners Robert Innes and Filippo de Falco (corporate/private equity), Jan Putnis (financial regulation), Phil Linnard (incentives), Guy O'Keefe (financing) and Charles Osborne (tax) as well as Claire Jeffs and William Turtle (competition).

HSF Kramer advised Pension Insurance Corporation. The team was led by London corporate partner Barney Hinnigan and consultant Ben Ward.

Clifford Chance was also involved. A team led by private equity partner Neil Evans advised Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) on the sale of its shareholding in PIC.

Update: This article has been updated to include details about Clifford Chance's role on the transaction.