[Exclusive] Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance to Acquire an Additional 40% Stake in Canopius This Year, Issue KRW 3 Trillion in Hybrid Capital Securities

\ [Financial News] Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has finalized plans to increase its stake in UK specialty insurer Canopius from 40% to 80%. In particular, it plans to raise the acquisition funds, estimated to be in the KRW 3 trillion range, by issuing hybrid capital securities in the United States. It plans to bring in financial investors (FIs) to jointly acquire the remaining 20% stake. The acquisition is slated for completion by the end of the year.

According to sources in the insurance industry on the 9th, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance held a board meeting that afternoon to discuss a proposal to acquire an additional stake in Canopius. The company plans to increase its current stake of about 40% in Canopius to 80%. It is understood that the group has decided to leave the remaining 10–20% stake to other investors. The aim is to secure management control while preserving opportunities to work with external strategic and financial investors.
The acquisition will be funded by issuing hybrid capital securities, rather than using dividends from Samsung Electronics. The United States is widely viewed as the likely market for the issuance. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance owns a 1.49% stake in Samsung Electronics and is expected to receive about KRW 1.3 trillion in dividend income this year, but has decided not to use it to acquire a stake in Canopius. A Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance official said, “We plan to raise the acquisition funds by issuing hybrid capital securities in the US market, rather than using dividends from Samsung Electronics,” adding, “We expect to invest around KRW 3 trillion.” He added, “This is a project the CEO is strongly committed to, and we aim to complete it by the end of the year.”
Canopius is an insurance group that offers insurance and reinsurance through the UK Lloyd’s market. Its products provide coverage for terrorism and kidnapping, ship and cargo accidents, various cyberattacks, corporate liability, and risks to energy facilities. Although based in the UK, the global group operates across the United States, Bermuda, and the Asia-Pacific region. Its gross written premiums for insurance contracts totaled $2.66 billion in the first half of this year, up 10% from the same period last year, while its undiscounted net combined ratio fell from 89.7% to 87.3%. This means the burden of claims and operating expenses relative to premiums declined, improving underwriting profitability.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance invested a total of KRW 1.2 trillion in three rounds—in 2019, 2020, and 2025—to acquire about a 40% stake in Canopius. Following an additional investment last year, Canopius has become a key investment supporting Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s overseas business expansion.
Solid earnings from its existing investment are seen as one reason Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance is pursuing an additional acquisition. The company has already generated substantial returns from its existing stake alone. On a conference call announcing its first-half results in August this year, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance said its equity-method income related to Canopius rose 247.6% year over year to KRW 168.5 billion in the first half. That was equivalent to 12.3% of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s net income of KRW 1.3723 trillion over the same period. The result reflected the effect of increasing its stake and one-off gains from the sale of a subsidiary. If the stake is raised to around 80%, Canopius is expected to contribute more to earnings.
As low birthrates, an aging population, and market saturation slow growth, South Korean insurers have recently been seeking new sources of revenue overseas. In May this year, DB Insurance completed its acquisition of a 100% stake in US specialty insurer Fortegra Group (The Fortegra Group). The deal was valued at $1.65 billion (about KRW 2.3 trillion), making it the first case of a South Korean insurer acquiring a US insurer outright and the largest overseas M&A deal in the South Korean insurance industry. KB Insurance is also reviewing business plans and an investment structure for entering the UK Lloyd’s market. An industry source said, “Because specialty insurance companies cannot gain a competitive edge based solely on a large customer base, as auto or long-term insurers can, acquiring overseas insurers that are already competitive is an effective approach.”
[email protected] Park Mun-su, Hong Yeji Reporter