This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:46 p.m. on Apr. 29, 2026.
Attention is focusing on Korea Investment Holdings' moves in the insurance mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market. With the sales of YeByeol Non-Life Insurance (formerly MG Non-Life Insurance) and Lotte Non-Life Insurance underway and KDB Life Insurance returning to the market, the number of options that Korea Investment & Securities Co. can review has increased all at once.
Korea Investment Holdings is still keeping all possibilities open rather than putting weight on a specific asset, comparing price, capital-raising burdens, and the competitive landscape.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 29th, Korea Investment Holdings is mulling three options: YeByeol Non-Life, Lotte Non-Life, and KDB Life. For YeByeol Non-Life, Korea Investment Holdings submitted a letter of commitment (LOC) on the 16th, but the sale effectively returned to square one after the single-bid process failed. The Lotte Non-Life and KDB Life deals are still at an early stage, with no preliminary bidding yet.
In the YeByeol Non-Life sale talks, Korea Investment Holdings effectively holds the initiative. Because only Korea Investment Holdings participated in the earlier main bid and the procedure failed, from the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation's perspective, keeping Korea Investment Holdings engaged has become key to getting the transaction done. According to the industry, Korea Investment Holdings demanded large-scale funding from the KDIC at the time of the main bid to normalize YeByeol Non-Life.
YeByeol Non-Life has a net worth of negative 500 billion won, making significant capital injection unavoidable during post-acquisition normalization. The KDIC had reportedly been reviewing support of about 1 trillion won to normalize YeByeol Non-Life, but the support level requested by Korea Investment Holdings is said to have exceeded the KDIC's expectations.
The KDIC is said to be seeking to strengthen its position in talks with Korea Investment Holdings by creating a multiple-bidder structure through a reannouncement. To that end, it has contacted multiple financial companies, with BNK Financial Group and IBK Financial Group cited by the market as potential candidates. The KDIC plans to proceed with a reannouncement as soon as it secures additional candidates likely to participate in the main bid.
KDB Life is also under review by Korea Investment Holdings. Korea Development Bank (KDB) recently issued a renewed sale notice for KDB Life through Samil PwC and will soon begin formal procedures. In this sale, KDB aims to craft a flexible transaction structure, keeping open the possibility of pre-deal capital injections. The move is seen as an effort to lower the burden on buyers and raise the chances of a successful transaction.
Korea Investment Holdings is considered a well-informed candidate on KDB Life, having conducted due diligence since last year. However, Taekwang Group, which owns Heungkuk Life Insurance, is also actively pursuing KDB Life, making a two-way race likely. Unlike YeByeol Non-Life, it will be difficult for Korea Investment Holdings to secure negotiating leverage on its own.
Lotte Non-Life is also an asset that has drawn interest from Korea Investment Holdings. Lotte Non-Life is a non-life insurer whose control JKL Partners is seeking to sell, and Korea Investment Holdings has been consistently mentioned as a potential buyer. The sale's lead manager was recently changed from J.P. Morgan to Samjong KPMG.
However, the price expectations for Lotte Non-Life and the burden of capital raising remain variables. From Korea Investment Holdings' perspective, the key criterion will be which of the three assets offers reasonable price and terms.