Woori Bank considers investing in local general agent
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By Kim Yoo-chul
Woori Bank is considering investing in a local independent general agent as the bank aims to diversify its business portfolio, local industry sources said Friday.
The bank recently accepted a letter of intent (LOI) submitted by Rich & Co., a local insurance broker. Established in 2006 and led by former Samsung Electronics executive Han Seung-pyo, Rich & Co. was the country's fourth-largest general agent last year in terms of revenue.
The company is the only local independent agent using digitally-driven business platforms. It runs mobile applications that help give clients greater access to updates on the products they are using, and for potential clients to register products they wish to purchase.
“Because Rich & Co. is planning for an initial public offering (IPO), it wants to win some financial backing from Woori in a kind of pre-IPO round,” a local industry source said. The demand for various forms of insurance is rising with local private equity fund (PEF) SkyLake and U.S. PEF Corstone Asia investing 50 billion won in Aplus Asset and 60 billion won in PeopleLife, respectively.
“Rich & Co. is in the process of deciding its corporate valuation prior to Woori's investment, as it is an unlisted company. But given the continued rising stock price of Aplus Asset, Rich & Co. is in a better position to receive a higher-than-expected valuation from investors, as one of the core factors in deciding this is the share prices of listed peers,” the source added.
Rich & Co. reported 330 billion won in revenue last year, up 39 percent year-on-year, but its operating profit at 11.4 billion won was down 2 percent. As of 2020, it had 3,700 insurance planners, up 20 percent from the previous year.