South Korea’s two largest insurers—Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Samsung Life Insurance—are in separate negotiations to acquire insurance companies in the UK and the United States. If both deals close, the combined investment would reach up to ₩8 trillion (approximately $5.9 billion), setting consecutive records for the largest overseas mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in South Korean financial sector history.
According to insurance and investment banking industry sources on September 2, Samsung Fire & Marine is in price negotiations with existing majority shareholders of Canopius, a UK specialty insurer, including a consortium led by US private equity firm Centerbridge Partners, to secure close to 100% ownership. A share purchase agreement (SPA) could be signed as early as this month.
Samsung Fire & Marine invested ₩1.2 trillion (approximately $879.3 million) across three tranches in 2019, 2020, and 2025 to secure a 40% stake and board seats, making it the second-largest shareholder of Canopius. The cost of acquiring the remaining roughly 60% stake, including a control premium, is estimated at between the high ₩2 trillion range and ₩3 trillion (approximately $1.5 billion to $2.2 billion).
Canopius is the world’s fifth-largest player in the specialty insurance market known as “Lloyd’s.” Lloyd’s is a type of insurance syndicate composed of individual underwriters and insurers, whose member companies sell liability coverage for terrorism, kidnapping, fine art, war, bodily injury, and entertainment across 80 countries. Canopius is regarded as a highly profitable company with a return on equity (ROE) in the 20% range. Samsung Fire & Marine booked equity-method income of ₩168.5 billion (approximately $123.5 million) from Canopius in the first half of this year alone, representing 12.3% of its total net profit of ₩1.3723 trillion (approximately $1.0 billion). Raising the stake above 90% is expected to more than double equity-method earnings.
An industry source said, “Samsung Fire & Marine will be able to leverage Canopius’s network of hubs in the UK, the US, the Netherlands, and Singapore to gain new growth engines in the high-value specialty insurance and reinsurance markets.”
Samsung Life is pursuing the acquisition of approximately 15% of Principal Financial Group (PFG), a US financial company specializing in retirement plans. The insurer has entered private negotiations with existing shareholders and recently sent requests for proposal (RFPs) to major investment banks and accounting firms to select an acquisition advisor. Securing a 15% stake would make Samsung Life the largest shareholder, surpassing global asset manager Vanguard Group (which holds 12.08%). PFG, listed on Nasdaq, has a market capitalization of approximately ₩32 trillion (approximately $23.4 billion), and the value of a 15% stake including a control premium is expected to reach ₩5 trillion to ₩6 trillion (approximately $3.7 billion to $4.4 billion).
Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, PFG is a global insurance and asset management group. It ranks among the top three providers in the US 401(k) defined-contribution retirement plan market and holds strong dominance in the small and medium-sized enterprise pension segment. Its total assets under management (AUM) stand at $781 billion, larger than South Korea’s Mirae Asset Group (₩784 trillion).
Samsung Life is known to place high value on PFG’s retirement plan management capabilities and its expertise in alternative investments such as real estate and infrastructure. If PFG is incorporated as an associate company under the equity method, PFG’s performance would be reflected in Samsung Life’s consolidated financial statements in proportion to its stake.
Given that both companies have long been classified as “defensive” firms focused on risk management, this M&A push represents a significant strategic shift. The backdrop cited is Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s recent emphasis to major Samsung affiliates to “aggressively pursue global M&A.”
This shift was also evident at Samsung Financial Group’s investor relations events. Lee Wan-sam, CFO and executive vice president of Samsung Life, said during the second-quarter earnings conference call, “We are actively exploring M&A opportunities not only in Asian markets but also in advanced markets such as the United States.” Samsung Life has formed a task force led by a vice president-level executive to review multiple global M&A targets beyond PFG. Koo Young-min, CFO of Samsung Fire & Marine, also stated, “We plan to expand our global business to diversify our revenue structure.”
The two insurers, which hold 8.51% (Samsung Life) and 1.49% (Samsung Fire & Marine) of Samsung Electronics shares, are expected to fund the M&A deals through dividends from the semiconductor upcycle. If both deals close, they would surpass the previous record for the largest global M&A in South Korea’s financial sector—DB Insurance’s ₩2.31 trillion (approximately $1.7 billion) acquisition of US insurer Potegra in 2025. Samsung Life’s PFG investment would rank as the third-largest global M&A across all South Korean industries, following SK Hynix’s acquisition of Intel’s NAND flash business (approximately ₩10.3 trillion) and Samsung Electronics’ acquisition of Harman (approximately ₩9.3 trillion).