법무법인(유한) 율촌 | Yulchon LLC

In what some reports have predicted to be one of the largest Korean M&A transactions of 2020(speculated by media to be around USD 1.7 billion), Yulchon is advising Prudential Financial, Inc. ("Prudential") with the ongoing sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Prudential Life Korea ("PoK").

Yulchon provided guidance from the earliest stages, including analysis of complex Korean insurance regulations, which limit entities that may own Korean insurance companies, to identifying possible ownership structures and bidders. With several parallel work-streams, Yulchon's team worked tirelessly through the holiday season to review and confer with the client on documents for the Virtual Data Room, as well as to identify legal issues which could impact the transaction. At the same time, Yulchon worked hand in hand with Prudential's chief M&A in-house counsel and Prudential's U.S. counsel, Debevoise & Plimpton, to prepare a Share Purchase Agreement tailored to the client's best interests, all while coordinating efforts with a large international working group of executives in multiple time zones from Prudential headquarters, regional offices, PoK, and Prudential's advisors. Yulchon actively works to keep updated multiple stakeholders, within Prudential's organization globally, regarding any potential issues.

Additionally, Yulchon has provided legal input and precedents for HR-related issues, partnering closely with PoK to support ongoing communications with its employees in keeping with its corporate culture. Yulchon is also advising on a wide range of Korean regulatory processes and requirements, including crafting for the client a coordinated, timed approach for all needed notifications and filings. Drawing on experience in both the seller and buyer side in the market, Yulchon's team serves as a "sounding-board" as to whether certain approaches employed in M&A deals involving insurance companies in other jurisdictions could be effective in this transaction, across issues that touch on a number of practice areas involved in the transaction.

Prudential is one of South Korea's largest life insurers, with sound financials and one of the strongest profiles in the Korean insurance market and its anticipated sale has drawn considerable interest from top private equity and strategic players alike.