Samsung-Affiliated Insurers Plan to Buy Canopius for $1.5 Billion, Newspaper Says

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.

1. Samsung Fire and Samsung Life now hold a 40% share in Canopius, the paper said.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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)