- GM's Agreement to Sell Saab Unit Falls Apart
- Consumer Confidence Improves But Still Shaky
- US Home Prices Up 5th Month, 2nd Straight Quarter
- FDIC Fund Falls into The Red, Bair Urges Lending
- Ron Paul's Plan to Audit Fed a 'Serious Attack': Mishkin
- Strong Banks, Weak Credit: Treasury Rethinks TARP
- Fairfax Lawsuit Keeps Heat on Chanos, SAC's Cohen
- Blog: Behind The Scenes With Warren Buffett
- Buyers Look For Bargains At Luxury Condo Auction
- Markets Can Rise 5-10% in the Near-Term: Strategist
- Busch: The Debt-Interest Rate Paradox
- The Lloyd's Prayer, Leggo My Eggo, Plate Hate & Your Emails
- Buy These 'Competitively Positioned' Stocks: Portfolio Manager
- Behind The Scenes With Warren Buffett
- 'Why the American Consumer Will Keep on Buying No Matter What'
- On Assignment: Europe & Asia
- The L.A. Extravaganza: A Test for Auto Shows
- 8 Stocks That Could Gain With Rising GDP
MOST SHARED
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- US Home Prices Up 5th Month, 2nd Straight Quarter
- GM's Agreement to Sell Saab To Swedish Firm Falls Apart
- Buyers Look For Bargains At Luxury Condo Auction
- FDIC Fund Falls into The Red, Bair Urges Lending
- Revised GDP Reading Puts Growth at 2.8%; Inflation Tame
- Weak Dollar Is Golden for Mining Companies
- Behind The Scenes With Warren Buffett
- CA "More Profitable" After Saving Energy: CEO
Text Size 
Samsung Life, South Korea's largest life insurer, said it was aiming to go public in the first half of next year and planning to pick lead managers in December.
The company would be joining a series of planned insurance offerings in Asia estimated to represent as much as $20 billion over the next three years.
The Asian insurance IPO candidate list includes AIG's AIA, Shanghai-traded China Pacific Insurance, which aims to raise $3.5 billion in Hong Kong, Reliance Life in India and Japan's Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance.
"If the process goes through smoothly, an IPO could be possible within 6 or 7 months," said Cho Tae-hyun, a spokesman for Samsung Life. He added that no decisions had yet been made regarding the size of the offering.
Tong Yang Life Insurance became South Korea's first listed life insurer in September. It priced its IPO at 17,000 won, the bottom of its indicated range, and was trading at 14,700 won as of midday Monday.
South Korea's 73 trillion won ($63.29 billion) life insurance landscape by premium income is divided between three market leaders - Samsung Life, Korea Life and Kyobo Life - and 19 smaller companies such as Tong Yang, Kumho and Mirae Asset.
Korea Life Insurance Co, the country's No. 2 life insurer, is expected to raise around $2 billion in 2010, in what would so far be Korea's largest IPO since 2006. It has mandated six banks, including Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, to arrange the IPO.
In 2005, U.S. buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) was reported to be eyeing a stake in Samsung Life, but no deal was signed.
- Remember when auto shows were major events where new models could generate buzz?
- A diet high in fat and sugar might actually be good for your portfolio.
- A new McDonald's in Manhattan is the nation's first to sport a sleek, chic interior imported from stores in London and Paris.
- One shopper explains why he gets up at 3am on the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping every year.
- From the AIG&T to the Merrill Lychee, Jane Wells lists this year's holiday cocktails.
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes