Samsung Life Insurance is acquiring the U.S. New York unit and the U.K. London unit held by its subsidiary Samsung Asset Management. The move is seen as a strategy to directly strengthen its overseas investment functions by reclaiming offshore bases it had transferred more than a decade ago to bolster global asset management capabilities.
Samsung Life Insurance (032830.KS) disclosed on the 24th that it will acquire all shares of the London unit and the New York unit held by Samsung Asset Management for a total of 137.3 billion won. The transaction is expected to be completed in October after undergoing the subsidiary ownership filing approval process.
Samsung Life stated the purpose of the acquisition as "global business expansion." The move is analyzed as an effort to identify overseas investment opportunities by directly maintaining local units in New York and London, while strengthening cooperation with global financial firms and overseas asset management.
The transaction also draws attention as a move in the opposite direction of the organizational restructuring carried out about a decade ago. In 2014, Samsung Life transferred all shares of its New York investment unit to Samsung Asset Management, followed by the London unit the following year. At the time, the intent was to enhance global asset management capabilities and organizational efficiency by integrating domestic and overseas investment and management divisions around Samsung Asset Management.
This time, in contrast, the insurer chose a structure in which it directly operates its overseas investment bases. This is interpreted as a strategy to expand overseas asset investment beyond a domestic insurance market that has entered a low-growth phase, and to accelerate investment decision-making.
Samsung Life has also been expanding its equity investments in specialized overseas asset managers. It has broadened its global management network by investing in U.K. real estate asset manager Savills Investment Management and French infrastructure specialist Meridiam, among others. The reacquisition of the New York and London units is expected to further accelerate its overseas investment and global business expansion.
