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Todd Freed

Partner, Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Institutions at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

New York, NY, USA

TF
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Why they matter

Head of Skadden's insurance M&A practice with direct, current line of sight into the largest live insurance/annuity combinations, including the 2026 Corebridge-Equitable deal.

Background

Todd E. Freed is a Partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York, where he heads the firm's Financial Institutions Group and leads its insurance M&A practice. He holds a J.D. from Ohio State University College of Law (1997, summa cum laude) and represents acquirers, targets, private equity firms, and investment banks in complex financial-services transactions, including M&A, capital raises, SPACs, and restructurings.

Notable deals

  • 2026
    Lead Skadden M&A counsel to Corebridge Financial in its $22 billion all-stock merger of equals with Equitable Holdings
  • 2020
    Skadden counsel to Willis Towers Watson in its proposed $80 billion combination with Aon
  • 2021
    Advised Apollo Global Management on its $11 billion merger with Athene Holding, a landmark PE-insurance convergence deal

Call-prep brief

Todd Freed — Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Background: Ohio State-trained M&A lawyer (J.D. 1997, summa cum laude) who has built Skadden's Financial Institutions Group into the go-to shop for insurance and annuity M&A. Chambers Band 1, Law360 Insurance MVP, Forbes Top 250 Lawyers.

Current focus: Leading Skadden's role on Corebridge Financial's $22B merger of equals with Equitable Holdings (announced March 2026) — one of the largest live annuity/life insurance combinations in the market right now.

What he cares about: Deal structuring in convergence transactions between insurance balance sheets and private capital (see Apollo/Athene 2021); regulatory approval pathways for large-scale reinsurance and annuity deals; brokerage consolidation dynamics (WTW/Aon).

Recent moves: Actively engaged on the Corebridge-Equitable transaction through year-end 2026 close; has been a recurring voice in trade press (Law360, The Deal) on insurance-PE convergence.

Sensitivities: Currently under active engagement on Corebridge-Equitable — limited bandwidth and likely unable to discuss deal specifics until closing/regulatory clearance. As outside counsel, will be cautious about anything resembling solicitation of client-confidential deal flow.

Questions to ask:

  1. What structuring and regulatory hurdles are most common in current insurance/annuity megamergers, and how are sponsors navigating them?
  2. Where is he seeing the most PE-insurance convergence activity outside the largest headline deals (i.e., in brokerage/MGA-sized transactions)?
  3. What deal terms or structures has he seen become more/less common in insurance M&A over the past 12–18 months?

Outreach draft

Subject
Quick question on insurance M&A trends
Hi Todd, I lead deal sourcing at [Firm Name], and we're spending a lot of time right now in the insurance brokerage and MGA space. Your work leading Skadden's Financial Institutions Group — most recently on the Corebridge-Equitable merger — caught our attention as some of the most active dealmaking in the sector. We'd value 20 minutes to hear your read on where insurance/brokerage M&A and PE-insurance convergence are heading, and any structural trends you're seeing across recent transactions. Happy to work around your schedule, including a quick call this month. Would you be open to connecting? Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

Sources