Kyobo Life Insurance has received approval from the financial authorities to acquire management control of SBI Savings Bank. With the country’s No. 1 savings bank under its wing, the company plans to accelerate business diversification.

Kyobo Life Insurance announced on the 18th that it had received approval from the Financial Services Commission for a change in major shareholder in relation to its acquisition of SBI Savings Bank. In April last year, Kyobo Life Insurance signed a contract to purchase a 50% + 1 share stake in SBI Savings Bank from its largest shareholder, Japan’s SBI Holdings, for approximately KRW 900 billion. Kyobo Life Insurance currently holds an 8.5% stake in SBI Savings Bank and plans to acquire the remaining shares and complete the transaction within the first half of this year (January to June).

Through this acquisition, Kyobo Life Insurance plans to move away from its insurance-centered business structure and strengthen its identity as an integrated financial company. Although Kyobo Life Insurance has securities, asset trust, and asset management affiliates, it has been assessed as having a weakness due to the absence of a banking subsidiary. By acquiring SBI Savings Bank, it has become possible to pursue group-level cross-selling and expand wealth management services. As of the end of September last year, SBI Savings Bank’s total assets stood at KRW 14,585.4 billion, ranking first among the 79 savings banks operating in Korea.

A Kyobo Life Insurance official said, “Kyobo Life Insurance’s insurance capabilities and SBI Savings Bank, which has infrastructure comparable to a regional bank, have come together to build a differentiated business portfolio,” adding, “Based on the strengths of both companies, we will further enhance services tailored to customers’ life cycles.”

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