This article was published on July 7, 2026, at 2:34 p.m. on Signal, a capital markets compass.
As the sale of KDB Life Insurance proceeds, candidates that took part in the preliminary bidding plan to complete their management presentation (MP) sessions by next week. The maneuvering among bidders is growing increasingly intense.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry Monday, Samil PwC, the lead manager for the KDB Life sale, and Korea Development Bank (KDB), the largest shareholder, will conduct MP sessions for acquisition candidates through next week, beginning with Samsung Life Insurance early this month, and will also grant opportunities for detailed due diligence. Five companies that participated in last month's preliminary bidding and qualified as eligible bidders are set to take part: Samsung Life Insurance, Hanwha Life Insurance, Kyobo Life Insurance, Heungkuk Life Insurance, and Korea Investment Holdings.
The market views this MP period as a watershed for separating the genuine acquisition candidates, given that the bidders differ in their acquisition intentions and their purposes for taking part in due diligence.
The company drawing the most attention is Samsung Life Insurance. Defying earlier market expectations, it is said to be participating relatively seriously in the due diligence. This is being interpreted as an intention to steadily expand the company's assets and scale by acquiring KDB Life. However, some in the industry also assess that Samsung Life is examining this deal as a kind of simulation ahead of ramping up future mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of overseas insurers.
Heungkuk Life Insurance is regarded as a candidate with strong acquisition intent. If Heungkuk Life takes in KDB Life, which is similar in size, its asset base is expected to roughly double at once to about 40 trillion won. This would allow it to leap to sixth or seventh place in the industry, behind the "Big 3" of Samsung, Hanwha, and Kyobo Life, as well as Shinhan Life and NH NongHyup Life. It is assessed as a candidate with relatively clear acquisition synergy.
By contrast, the stances of Hanwha Life Insurance and Kyobo Life Insurance are assessed as relatively cautious. Hanwha Life was recently named the preferred bidder for Acuon Capital, whose acquisition price is estimated at around 1 trillion won. Considering that Hanwha Life has actively reviewed M&A targets in overseas markets, it appears likely to carefully weigh whether to take part in the final bidding after this due diligence. Kyobo Life still has not resolved its put option dispute with financial investors (FIs) including IMM Private Equity (PE). It also faces internal tasks such as establishing a holding company and an initial public offering (IPO), which have been long-cherished goals.
The moves of Korea Investment Holdings, a regular bidder in the recent insurer M&A market, are cited as a variable in this sale. Korea Investment Holdings has submitted a letter of intent (LOI) for Lotte Non-Life Insurance, whose sale is currently under way, and has also been named among the acquisition candidates for Yeball Non-Life Insurance. In addition, it is mentioned as an acquisition candidate for BNP Paribas Cardif Life, another controlling-stake target, and observers say MetLife's Korea unit — which has been the subject of persistent behind-the-scenes sale rumors — is also within Korea Investment Holdings' range. How KDB, on the sell side, assesses the acquisition sincerity of Korea Investment Holdings, which is examining targets across the board in this way, is also expected to be a point of interest.
The common view among the acquisition candidates is that insurance authorities will prefer a direction in which an existing life insurer absorbs KDB Life to build economies of scale, rather than the entry of a new player lacking a life insurance license.
KDB and Samil PwC, on the sell side, plan to hold the main bidding and select a preferred bidder as early as the end of this month, or by August at the latest, based on the results of this detailed due diligence and the MPs. One IB industry official predicted, "The internal circumstances and acquisition strategies of each bidder are intertwined in a complex way, so a fierce game of nerves will continue until the final stages of the main bidding."
