법무법인(유한) 율촌 | Yulchon LLC

Yulchon is advising Prudential Financial, Inc. (“Prudential”) in its sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Prudential Life Insurance of Korea (“PoK”), to Korea’s KB Financial group for 2.3 trillion Korean Won, or $1.9 billion.

Yulchon provided guidance from the earliest stages, including analysis of complex Korean insurance regulations and identifying possible ownership structures and bidders. Through several parallel work-streams, Yulchon’s team worked 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. Drawing on experience in both the seller and buyer side in the market, Yulchon’s team serves as a “sounding-board” to whether certain approaches employed in M&A deals involving insurance companies in other jurisdictions could be effective in this transaction.

Understanding PoK’s business and the importance to Prudential and PoK of its corporate culture of caring for its people, Yulchon has played a key role offering strategic and practical guidance on labor issues unique to Prudential. Yulchon is also advising on a wide range of Korean regulatory processes and requirements, from assisting with guidance in on-going courtesy communications by PoK with regulators, to the formal notification and filings required, undertaking a coordinated, timed approach for all needed notifications and filings. As the transaction nears its anticipated closing, Yulchon continues to work with Prudential’s organization globally, as well as outside advisors, to actively keep updated these multiple stakeholders regarding any potential issues.

Prudential is one of South Korea’s largest life insurers, with sound financials and one of the strongest profiles in the Korean insurance market, while KB Financial Group is one of Korea’s leading financial services providers. Media reports predict this may be Korea’s largest M&A deal of 2020.