Industrial Bank of Korea Signs Stock Purchase Agreement for KDB Life with JC Partners

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] KDB Life Insurance has been sold to the private equity fund JC Partners.

On the 31st, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) announced that it signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) for KDB Life Insurance with JC Partners.

The agreement involves JC Partners selling approximately 88 million common shares of KDB Life Insurance (a 92.7% stake) to a planned private equity fund (PEF) worth 350 billion KRW for 200 billion KRW, and injecting 150 billion KRW in capital into KDB Life Insurance.

Previously, in March 2010, KDB acquired KDB Life Insurance (formerly Kumho Life Insurance) as part of the Kumho Group restructuring and financial market stabilization measures. Although three attempts to sell the company failed until 2016, efforts to improve management such as efficiency improvements in 2017, capital increase, and appointment of insurance expert executives in 2018 led to improved performance, laying the groundwork for the sale.

Accordingly, despite challenging conditions such as prolonged low interest rates and COVID-19, KDB increased the likelihood of the sale by participating as a limited partner (LP) in JC PEF and succeeded in raising LP funds through a flexible deal structure including subordinated bond investments.

Yang Ki-ho, KDB Vice President and Head of the Capital Markets Division, stated, "With this sale, KDB can reduce the management burden of KDB Life Insurance and focus more on its role as a leading policy finance institution supporting the Korean New Deal and innovation growth sectors. We expect KDB Life Insurance to develop into a strong, profitable, and sound small-to-medium life insurer through capital expansion and flexible business execution by private experts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.