Kyobo Life submits preliminary IPO application

Kyobo Life Insurance, the No. 3 life insurer in South Korea, has applied for a preliminary approval to list its shares on the country's main bourse, the stock market operator said Tuesday.

Kyobo Life Insurance submitted the application with the Korea Exchange (KRX) for an initial public offering (IPO) and picked NH Investment and Securities Co. as the lead manager for the envisioned stock listing, according to the operator.

Other details were not disclosed.

In November, Kyobo Life Insurance said that it would seek to complete an IPO within the first half of next year to diversify its funding sources in preparation for the introduction of a new accounting rule for insurance products in 2023.

The insurer said it will use the money raised from the planned IPO to turn itself into a holding company.

Kyobo Life Insurance resumed the push for an IPO after relevant efforts were suspended due to a prolonged legal battle with Affinity Equity Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity fund.

In October 2018, Affinity Equity Partners exercised a put option on 6 million shares in Kyobo Life at a strike price of 409,000 won ($342) per share after the insurer failed to deliver on its promise to conduct an IPO by September 2015.

Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae refused to buy the shares and lodged a complaint with the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICC). The ICC later rejected the private equity firm's request.

Kyobo Life has said the company will finalize plans for the IPO size and timing in consideration of the market situations and other factors.

Launched in 1958, Kyobo Life posted a net profit of 382.9 billion won out of an operating income of 15.71 trillion won last year. (Yonhap)