Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Samsung Life Insurance are moving to seriously consider acquiring overseas insurance and financial company equity stakes. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is seeking to secure the remaining equity in the U.K. specialty insurer Canopius, while Samsung Life Insurance is said to be looking at equity investments in multiple candidates, including U.S. retirement powerhouse Principal Financial Group (PFG).
According to the insurance industry on the 3rd, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is said to be reviewing additional equity purchases in Canopius, a U.K. specialty insurer, with the goal of becoming the largest shareholder. Some say it is pushing to sign a stock purchase agreement (SPA) to ultimately secure 80% to 90% equity. The additional acquisition price, including a control premium, is estimated at the mid-to-high 2 trillion won range to about 3 trillion won.
Canopius is a global insurer specializing in coverage for specialty risks such as terrorism, war and artworks, and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has invested about 1.2 trillion won over three rounds since 2019, currently holding 40% equity.
Samsung Life Insurance is broadly examining overseas investment opportunities, including the acquisition of a U.S. financial company. Samsung Life Insurance earlier said through a conference call and other channels that it is reviewing equity acquisitions in overseas insurers and asset managers, including in the United States. A Samsung Life Insurance official said, "We are at the stage of starting to review a range of domestic and overseas investment candidates to secure new growth drivers."
One of the candidates mentioned is PFG, a U.S. insurance and asset management group. PFG is a major player in the U.S. 401(k) retirement market and manages more than 1,100 trillion won in assets. If an equity acquisition materializes, Samsung Life Insurance could expect synergies in alternative investments, including real estate and infrastructure, along with entry into the U.S. retirement market. Some expect Samsung Life Insurance to spend several trillion won to buy about 10% equity in PFG.
If both transactions are completed, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is expected to invest 2 trillion to 3 trillion won and Samsung Life Insurance 5 trillion to 6 trillion won, totaling around 8 trillion won. That would be the largest overseas merger and acquisition (M&A) by a Korean financial company on record. The current record is DB Insurance's acquisition of the U.S. insurer Fortegra, with a deal size of about 2.31 trillion won.