Real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson has announced it agreed to be taken private by a consortium led by the company's CEO and Canadian insurance company Fairfax Holdings in an up to $1.65 billion deal advised by five law firms.

Latham & Watkins LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP are representing Kennedy Wilson; Allen Overy Shearman Sterling is guiding Fairfax; Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is steering the consortium; and Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP is counsel for Kennedy Wilson's special committee.

Kennedy Wilson said in a statement Tuesday it is planning to be acquired by Chair and CEO William McMorrow, along with other senior executives, and Fairfax for $10.90 per share in cash. The purchase price is a 46% premium to the company's stock value as of Nov. 4, the last trading day before a proposal became public.

Fairfax committed to provide up to $1.65 billion to fund the deal's purchase price, the redemption of preferred shares not already owned by the consortium and other costs related to the merger agreement, according to the statement.

The consortium said in a November proposal letter that private ownership will allow Kennedy Wilson to focus on its business without the associated expenses and administrative burden of ongoing reporting as a public company.

Members of the consortium already collectively own 31% of Kennedy Wilson's stock, the proposal letter noted.

Representatives of Kennedy Wilson and Fairfax didn't immediately respond to requests for additional comment on the deal Wednesday.

The company focuses primarily on rental housing and has $31 billion of assets under management. About 63% of its portfolio consists of multifamily properties, 19% office buildings in Europe, 8% industrial and retail real estate, 6% office properties in the U.S. and 4% loans, according to past company disclosures.

Kennedy Wilson's board of directors approved the acquisition upon a recommendation by a special committee formed by the board in response to the consortium's proposal to take the company private in November. The group initially sought to purchase the investment firm for $10.25 per share.

McMorrow and other executives involved in the deal plan to continue leading and bear ultimate responsibility for Kennedy Wilson and its subsidiaries upon the acquisition's close, while Fairfax expects to hold a majority interest in the company post-merger, the parties said.

The consortium and the real estate company hope to close the deal in the second quarter.

The Latham team advising Kennedy Wilson includes a corporate deal team led by partners Julian Kleindorfer and Brian Duff, with associates Mark Goshgarian and Joy Chen; in addition to capital markets partner Arash Aminian Baghai and associates Eric Finkelberg and Dylan Shamoon; tax partners Ana O'Brien and Eric Cho; finance partner Elizabeth Oh; intellectual property partner Jeffrey Tochner and associate Zachary Shufro; data privacy and cybersecurity partner Clayton Northouse and associate Zac Alpert; compensation and benefits partner Julie Crisp and associate Aaron Tso; environmental partner Aron Potash; real estate partners Douglas Heitner and Aida Vajzovic and counsel Shira Bressler; regulatory partner Paul Rosen and associate Adam Schupack; partners Patrick English and David Brenneman and associate Ben Bouwman on Hart-Scott-Rodino Act matters; partner Jana Dammann de Chapto on foreign direct investment matters; partner Tomas Nilsson on U.S. antitrust matters; and partner Daniel Dominguez on anti-corruption and anti-money laundering matters.

The Cravath team representing the special committee is led by mergers and acquisitions partners Faiza Saeed, Cole DuMond and Alexander Greenberg; financing partners Andrew Pitts, Stephen Kessing and Ryan Patrone; tax partner Christopher Fargo; executive compensation and benefits partner Jonathan Katz; intellectual property partner Sasha Rosenthal-Larrea; antitrust partner Jesse Weiss; and environmental partner Matthew Morreale.

Additional legal team information for Ropes & Gray, A&O Shearman and Debevoise & Plimpton wasn't immediately available.