Advising Assurant on its on its US$2.5 billion acquisition of insurance provider The Warranty Group.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in New York, Pinheiro Neto Advogados in São Paulo and Nader, Hayaux & Goebel in Mexico City and London have advised New York risk management solutions provider Assurant on its US$2.5 billion acquisition of insurance provider The Warranty Group.

The New York, London, Washington DC and Brussels offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Carey in Santiago, Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enriquez SC in Mexico City and BMA – Barbosa, Müssnich, Aragão in Rio de Janeiro provided counsel to The Warranty Group. Allende & Brea in Buenos Aires and Rebaza Alcazar in Lima are also thought to have advised The Warranty Group, but this was not confirmed before publication. Further counsel to Assurant could not be confirmed.

The deal sees the two companies combine under Assurant’s name. Assurant shareholders own a majority 77% stake in the combined company. The Warranty Group was formerly a portfolio company of one of the largest private equity investors in the world, Texas Pacific Group Capital (TPG Capital), which, along with its affiliates retains a 23% share in the combined entity.

Pinheiro Neto assisted Assurant with regulatory analysis in Brazil and carried out due diligence of three The Warranty Group subsidiaries in that country – insurance provider Virginia Surety Companhia de Seguros do Brasil, The Warranty Group Brasil and The Warranty Group Warranty Serviços do Brasil. Meanwhile, Nader Hayaux advised Assurant in the due diligence of three further subsidiaries of The Warranty Group in Mexico – insurance provider Virginia Surety Seguros, The Warranty Group Operadora de Servicios, and The Warranty Group Mexico. The firm is currently helping Assurant in the preparation and filing of applications to obtain regulatory approvals required in Mexico to complete the transaction.

The deal was signed on 18 October.

Source: Latin Lawyer