On December 21, Willkie client Aviva plc announced that it has agreed to sell Aviva USA Corporation, its U.S. life and annuities business and related asset management operations (Aviva USA), to Athene Holding Ltd for $1.8 billion. The sale was the largest M&A transaction in the life insurance industry in 2012.

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Pryor Cashman LLP is pleased to announce that Avram E. Morell, former special immigration counsel at Proskauer Rose LLP, has joined the firm as a partner in the Immigration Group in New York. Morell brings with him associate Michael Cruse and paralegal Mary Jo Bradley.

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Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that the firm represented Sterling Organization, a privately owned retail real estate investment and services company headquartered in Palm Beach, FL , in forming its first fund, Sterling Value Add Partners, LP, which has received total capital commitments of $138 million, exceeding their target of $125 million.

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Paul Hastings LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that it represented the lead arrangers RBC Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and UBS Securities LLC in connection with the financing for the completion of Gulf Oil Corporation Limited’s $1.1 billion acquisition of HII Holding Corporation.

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McDermott Will & Emery LLP today announced that corporate lawyer Robert H. Cohen has joined as a partner based in the Firm’s New York office. Mr. Cohen, who joins from an Am Law 10 law firm, has nearly 30 years of experience representing issuers and underwriters in a broad range of corporate, M&A and financing transactions.

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Michael Kushner has joined Locke Lord’s New York office as a Partner in the Tax practice, bringing with him more than 25 years of experience in Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Employee Benefits and federal tax law matters. His practice encompasses a wide range of clients and issues, both domestic and international.

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Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP is pleased to welcome ten new attorneys to the firm’s New York office. Senior Partner Darrell Whiteley leads a team of ten from Lester Schwab Katz & Dwyer to Lewis Brisbois, where they will join the firm’s General Liability Group, focusing on the defense of construction cases under the New York Labor Law. Joining Whiteley as partners in the New York office are Clare Cunningham and Joshua Jemal. Associates Meghan Cavalieri, Thomas Noss, Carolyn Planas, Nadia Del Toro, Gregory Marshall, Jennifer Loyd, and Bridget Coyne round out the team.

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Davis Polk is advising Shire plc on its acquisition of Lotus Tissue Repair, Inc. Subject to customary government approvals, Shire will purchase Lotus Tissue Repair for an upfront payment and certain contingent payments based on the achievement of certain safety and development milestones.

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Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP served as legal advisor to private-equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management LLC in its acquisition of a majority stake in music performance-rights company SESAC Inc. for about $600 million.

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On December 31, 2012, after a contentious four-year Chapter 11 case, Tribune Company and its debtor subsidiaries successfully emerged from Chapter 11 protection. Chadbourne & Parke represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Tribune case, which involved approximately $13 billion in total funded debt and was the largest bankruptcy in the history of the American media industry. When Tribune filed for reorganization, it owned eight newspapers (including The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune), 23 television stations and the Chicago Cubs.

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