Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance will acquire a 100% stake in the UK specialty insurer Canopius for approximately 3 trillion won, together with institutional investors. The company plans to raise its own ownership ratio from the current 40% to 81%, marking a full-scale push into the global specialty insurance and reinsurance markets. This is seen as a strategy to secure new revenue sources through overseas mergers and acquisitions (M&A) amid slowing growth in the domestic insurance market.
According to the insurance industry on the 9th, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance discussed a plan to acquire additional shares in Canopius at its board meeting that day. The acquisition will involve purchasing the remaining shares held by US-based private equity firm Centerbridge Partners and others. It is known that global private equity firm KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) and the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) will also participate as co-investors. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance plans to raise acquisition funds by issuing new capital securities in the US market and complete the transaction.
Since its initial investment in Canopius in 2019, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has additionally secured shares in 2020 and 2025. Last year, it invested approximately 800 billion won to raise its ownership ratio to 40%. Once this acquisition is completed, the strategic investment relationship that has continued for seven years will lead to the acquisition of control.
Canopius is a global specialty insurer based in the UK Lloyd's insurance market, underwriting risks such as marine, aviation, energy, and cyber. Last year, its direct premiums written were $4.48 billion, an increase of approximately 27% from the previous year, and it recorded a net profit of $467 million. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's equity-method earnings from Canopius in the first half of this year alone reached 168.5 billion won.
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