Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance eyes MG Non-Life Insurance

Three entities are now bidding to acquire the non-life insurer.

Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance entered the race to acquire MG Non-Life Insurance, reported the Korea Herald.

Its two other contenders are private equity firms Dayli Partners and JC Flowers. Thursday last week, these three parties submitted letters of intent for the fourth preliminary bidding of MG Insurance. 

Meritz Fire, the non-life insurance branch of Meritz Financial Group, confirmed its participation on Friday. 

An official from Meritz Fire stated, “We are currently reviewing all potential deals, and for this one, we participated at our optimal condition through thorough analysis of all available data," an official from the company stated, noting that the deals under consideration are not limited to insurance companies,”

The previous three public auction attempts for MG Insurance have failed due to a lack of bidders, with the last auction’s final bidding not receiving offers from Dayli Partners and JC Flowers.

MG Insurance requires substantial capital to address its financial instability. Approximately $733.8m is needed for stabilisation, with the insurer having been declared insolvent by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in April 2022.

The estimated sale price ranges from $150m to $220m, but an additional $580m may be necessary to normalise operations.

A successful acquisition by Meritz Fire would mark Meritz Financial Group’s first M&A transaction in nearly a decade, following its 2015 acquisition of I'M Investment & Securities.