Debevoise, Yulchon Advise on $1.9B Prudential Korea Sale
Korean bank KB Financial is taking over the U.S. insurance giant's 30-year-old Korean arm.
April 15, 2020 at 12:16 PM
3 minute read
Prudential. Credit: Bloomberg.
Debevoise & Plimpton and Korean firm Yulchon are advising American insurance giant Prudential Financial Inc. on a $1.9 billion sale of its South Korean arm to local financial services provider KB Financial Group.
As part of the deal, KB Financial Group will acquire 100% of Prudential Life Insurance of Korea Ltd. in what is expected to be one of Korea's largest M&A deals in 2020. Established in 1989, Prudential Korea is a leading provider of life insurance products in the country with a net asset value of $2.58 billion. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2020, subject to customary closing conditions, Prudential said.
Debevoise is advising New York-listed Prudential with a global team of lawyers led by insurance M&A partners John Vasily and David Grosgold in New York, and Edwin Northover in Hong Kong. Also involved are tax partner Gary Friedman and benefits partner Franklin Mitchell in New York and M&A partner David Innes in London. Vasily, Grosgold, Mitchell and Friedman all advised on Prudential's acquisition of online insurance startup Assurance IQ for $2.35 billion last year.
Korean firm Yulchon is advising Prudential as local counsel, led by M&A partners Nina Kim and Hyeon Hwa Shin, in addition to M&A partner Hyung Ki Lee, tax partners Jeremy Everett and Sang Woo Song, and employment partners Jae Woo Park and Christopher Mandel.
Fellow Korean firm Kim & Chang's M&A partner Young Man Huh is advising the buyer KB Financial Group.
Prudential put its Korean insurance business up for sale in late 2019 and garnered interest from five firms, including several Seoul-based private equity firms and a Taiwanese financial holding company, The Korea Times reported. It is one of the four biggest life insurers in the United States, with more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of the end of 2019.
The company said that the sale is part of its international strategy to focus more on Japan and "higher-growth emerging markets." However, Korea Economic Daily reported that the sale is part of Prudential's efforts to sell off overseas assets in order to comply with new international reporting standards effective from 2023.
With the acquisition of Prudential Korea, KB Financial Group will see its non-banking operations boosted to become one of Korea's biggest life insurance players.
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