“Going to acquire global M&A and management rights in the mid to long term”
Samsung Life is looking for equity investment targets in emerging Asian countries this year under the goal of expanding its overseas business.
Samsung Life Insurance announced on the 23rd at a company presentation (IR) for its 2020 results, “We are discovering targets for overseas equity investment within this year according to the mid- to long-term vision of achieving 30% of profits in overseas business sectors.”
Asia’s emerging economies were selected as the target region for investment in consideration of growth and population composition.
An official at Samsung Life explained, “The two pillars of overseas strategy are the growth of existing Chinese and Thai subsidiaries and entry into new markets,” and said, “In order to enter the new market, we will primarily review the acquisition of a minority stake in an emerging Asian company with high growth potential.”
The official added that the company is weighing the timing and scale of capital input, predicting that it will require significant capital input over the next 10 years to achieve 30% of profits in overseas business.
According to Samsung Life, Samsung Life’s Chinese subsidiary, BOC-Samsung Life, turned to a surplus after a joint venture with the Bank of China in 2015, and recorded 11 billion won last year.
Income (imported) premiums grew from 5.4 billion yuan in 2016 to 13.2 billion yuan (about 2.27 trillion won) last year.
The stake structure of China’s Samsung acquisition consists of 51% of the Bank of China, 25% of Samsung Life and 24% of China Airlines.
Samsung Life added that there is room for a stake in China Airlines, a non-financial company.
Samsung Life’s Thailand subsidiary ranked 10th (2.5%) in exclusive sales channels.
Meanwhile, Samsung Life stressed that the dividend payout ratio this year was 35.5%, down 1.5% points from last year, but it maintains its goal of expanding the mid-term dividend payout target to 50%.
/yunhap news
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