Samsung Life Insurance Co., South Korea’s largest life insurer by market share, said Wednesday that it is undertaking a 10-for-1 share split ahead of its initial public offering.
After the share split, Samsung Life’s outstanding shares will increase to 200 million from the current 20 million, and the face value of its common stock will be KRW500, the company said in a statement.
“Through the share split, Samsung Life is trying to prevent a stock price fall after being publicly listed from a lack of circulated shares, reduce the burden of having to buy high-priced shares, and make room for a share price rise in the future,” the statement said.
Market watchers have been saying that the IPO price for Samsung Life’s shares could be around KRW800,000 each prior to the share split.
Samsung Life last week tentatively selected Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch, Korea Investment & Securities and Shinhan Investment Corp. to manage its IPO, which is slated for next year and which market watchers say could be the largest ever in South Korea.
