Daniel Priest

Daniel Priest is a tax associate. His practice concentrates on advising clients on a broad range of M&A and financing transactions, with a focus on corporate transactions in the insurance industry, as well as advising sponsors on the formation of U.S. and international private equity funds. Mr. Priest joined Debevoise in 2010. Mr. Priest received a J.D. magna cum laude from New York University School of Law in 2010, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and an executive editor of the Law Review. He was designated by the School of Law as a Pomeroy Scholar (2008) and a Butler Scholar (2009). He received a B.A. magna cum laude from Carleton College in 2007.

Mr. Priest is a co-author of the Insurance and Investment Management M&A Deskbook, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (April 2015).

Experience:

• AmTrust Financial Services in the sale of its domestic and international surety and credit reinsurance operations to Liberty Mutual.
• Jackson National Life Insurance in its agreements to reinsure John Hancock Life Insurance’s Group Payout Annuity business.
• Resolution Re in the reinsurance of structured settlement annuity contracts and income annuity contracts from Symetra Life Insurance Company.
• Wilton Re in its agreements to reinsure legacy comprehensive and nursing home long-term care insurance policies from Bankers Life and Casualty.
• Ply Gem and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in Ply Gem’s $5.5 billion stock-for-stock combination with NCI Building Systems.
• AXA and AXA Equitable Holdings on the initial public offering of AXA Equitable Holdings on the New York Stock Exchange for approximately $4 billion, and AXA Equitable Holdings in its offering and sale of $3.8 billion of senior notes.
• Prosperity Life Insurance in its sale to an investor group.
• Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its $2.4 billion take private of Ply Gem and acquisition of Atrium Windows & Doors, two leading building products companies.
• American International Group in its $5.56 billion acquisition of Validus Group, a Bermuda-based, NYSE-listed, (re)insurance company.
• Cornell Capital as a leading investor in the $2.05 billion acquisition of Talcott Resolution, The Hartford’s run-off life and annuity businesses.
• Time Inc. in its $2.8 billion sale to Meredith.
• International Paper in the $1.8 billion combination of its North America Consumer Packaging business with Graphic Packaging.
• American International Group in the sale of its medical stop-loss operations to Tokio Marine HCC.
• Eagle Foods, a Kelso & Company portfolio company, in its acquisition of Popcorn, Indiana, a maker of ready-to-eat popcorn products.
• Global Infrastructure Partners in the formation of Global Infrastructure Partners III, a $15.8 billion infrastructure fund.
• Kelso & Company in its investment in Premia Holdings, a newly-formed property and casualty insurance and reinsurance group focused on providing runoff solutions.
• GSO Capital Partners in the formation of Capital Opportunities Fund III, a $6.5 billion global mezzanine fund.
• International Paper in its $2.2 billion acquisition of Weyerhaeuser’s pulp business.
• Nassau Reinsurance Group, a Golden Gate Capital portfolio company, in its acquisition of Universal American’s Traditional Insurance business.
• Sun Life in two reinsurance agreements, and a related administrative agreement, with affiliates of Enstar Group Limited.
• Protective Life in its acquisition by reinsurance of certain in-force blocks of term life insurance from Genworth Life and Annuity Insurance Company.
• Nassau Reinsurance Group, a portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital, in its $217.2 million acquisition of The Phoenix Companies.
• Sun Life Financial in its $975 million acquisition of Assurant’s Employee Benefits business.
• StanCorp Financial Group in its $5 billion sale to Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company.
• Footprint Power in the sale of Salem Harbor Energy Station Project to Highstar Fund IV and Toyota Tsusho, an EPC Contract with Iberdrola Energy Projects, to build a 700MW state-of-the-art combined-cycle gas electric generating facility and a $730 million construction financing, a transaction awarded the Project Finance International “2015 Power Deal of the Year of the Americas” award.
• Harbinger Group and its subsidiary Front Street Re, in the acquisition of Ability Re by way of a merger of Ability Re with and into Front Street Re, with Front Street Re as the surviving entity.
• Blackstone Group’s Tactical Opportunities Group in the acquisition of Philadelphia Financial Group from Tiptree Financial.
• GSO Capital Partners in certain energy and debt hybrid hedge fund-related activities.
  Protective Life in its $5.7 billion merger with a subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life, a life insurance company listed on the Tokyo stock exchange.
• Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in its $1.8 billion acquisition of Wilton Re, a U.S. life insurance and reinsurance provider.
• The Hertz Corporation in the separation by spinoff of its Herc Rentals equipment rental business and $5.385 billion in related financings, including $2.4 billion Hertz term and revolving credit facilities, a $1.75 billion Herc asset-based revolving credit facility, and $1.235 billion in secured second priority Herc bonds.
• Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of PharMEDium, a leading provider of sterile compounding services to hospital pharmacies.
• EQT in the formation of EQT Credit Fund II, an €845 million Europe credit opportunities fund.
• Wilsonart, a Clayton, Dubilier & Rice portfolio company, in its acquisition of Durcon, a manufacturer of laboratory-grade work surfaces.

Education:

• New York University School of Law, 2010, J.D.
• Carleton College, 2007, B.A.

Bar Admissions:

• New York