South Korea’s Samsung Group-affiliated insurers plan to acquire London-based reinsurance company Canopius by buying an additional 50% stake for more than 2 trillion won ($1.47 billion), the Korea Economic Daily said on Thursday.
Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance Co. and Samsung Life Insurance Co. are expected to sign a deal with major share owners including asset manager Centerbridge Partners, it added, citing unnamed industry sources.
- Samsung Fire and Samsung Life now hold a 40% share in Canopius, the paper said.
- Nothing has been decided at this stage, the two companies said in a statement. In a regulatory filing, Samsung Life said it is reviewing investment opportunities at home and abroad to secure new growth drivers, but has made no specific decision on a potential equity investment in a U.S. insurer.
- Both firms are expected to fund the buy with dividends from Samsung Electronics, which had record operating profit in the second quarter, the paper said.
- The two hold major stakes in the world’s largest memory chip maker.
($1 = 1,358.2300 won)
(Reporting by Jack Kim, Heekyong Yang; editing by Chris Reese and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)