Shearman & Sterling has represented Japan’s SOMPO Holdings in a $6.3 billion deal to purchase U.S.-based property and casualty insurer Endurance Specialty Holdings, which was advised by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. 

SOMPO will make the acquisition through its wholly owned subsidiary, SOMPO Japan NI Inc, and will finance it with cash on hand. The management team of Endurance, a property and casualty insurer, is expected to stay, including CEO John Charman. 

Skadden’s deal team included partners Todd Freed, John Hlafter, Sally Thurston, Neil Leff and Robert Stirling. Partners Kenneth Lebrun, Frank Miller, George Karafotias, Barney Reynolds and Reena Sahni handled the transaction for Shearman.  

The deal, which is expected to close in March 2017, is subject to the approval of Endurance’s shareholders. Sompo, which has a market value of $12 billion, does not have a major foothold in the U.S., and its buyout of Endurance is the latest in a series of acquisitions among Japanese insurers facing a swiftly maturing domestic market.