JSM Financial: Samsung Life to follow competition and raise $4.5 billion in IPO.

March 31, 2010 - PRLog -- In what is likely to be South Korea’s largest initial public offering and Asia’s second largest offering so far for 2010, JSM Financial has learned that Samsung Life Insurance has announced that it intends to raise up to $4.5 billion.

The move by Samsung comes after its domestic rival Korea Life Insurance raised a $1 billion IPO just a few weeks back and Japan’s Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance put together the world’s largest IPO in 2 years, raising $11 billion.

Samsung is offering 44.4 million shares with pricing to be decided closer to the mid-March listing. JSM Financial sources indicate that with market capitalization of $20.3 billion (KRW 23,000 billion) at the top of the pricing range, Samsung will become South Korea’s fifth largest listed firm behind Samsung Electronics, Posco Hyundai Motor and the Korea Electric Power Corporation.

“Samsung Life is a much stronger company than Korea Life but the offered price at the lowest range is similar to Korea Life’s current stock price. You can imagine how interested investors will be in this offering,” JSM Financial Believes a source close to the matter was recently quoted as having said.

As South Korea’s largest life insurer the company controls around 27% of the nation’s $65 billion life insurance market and has over $115 billion in assets.

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