Tongyang Life Insurance becomes wholly owned subsidiary of Woori Financial Group

Tongyang Life Insurance has completed a comprehensive share swap with Woori Financial and become its wholly owned subsidiary.

Tongyang Life announced Tuesday that it had finalized the share exchange after securing regulatory approval and a shareholder vote, following a comprehensive share swap agreement signed with Woori Financial in April.

At an extraordinary general meeting on July 24, shareholders approved the share swap with 79.9 percent of voting shares in favor. Under the exchange ratio, one Tongyang Life common share was swapped for 0.2521056 Woori Financial common shares, with Woori Financial shares valued at 34,589 won ($24) and Tongyang Life shares at 8,720 won. Woori Financial had earlier raised the share buyback request price by 10 percent — from 8,505 won to 9,356 won — in response to concerns from minority shareholders who objected to the exchange ratio.

With the transaction complete, Tongyang Life will wrap up roughly 17 years as a KOSPI-listed company since its 2009 listing, with a formal delisting expected by the end of August. The insurer will then operate as a core insurance affiliate of Woori Financial.

Tongyang Life said the governance restructuring that comes with becoming a wholly owned subsidiary will streamline its stakeholder structure and allow it to pursue business strategies more swiftly. The company expects to cut both tangible and intangible management costs by eliminating the dual-listing arrangement and to establish a more sustainable management framework.

The insurer also plans to accelerate its pursuit of future business initiatives by drawing on Woori Financial's human and material resources and generating synergies across affiliates. It intends to broaden its customer base and strengthen its product and service competitiveness through collaboration with group affiliates — including the bank, card and securities units — and to continuously expand customer-centered comprehensive financial services.

"I am grateful to our shareholders and customers for their support in bringing the share swap process to a smooth conclusion," Tongyang Life Chief Executive Seong Dae-gyu said. "We will combine Woori Financial Group's comprehensive financial capabilities with Tongyang Life's insurance expertise to secure new growth drivers and establish ourselves as a core affiliate that delivers greater value to all our customers."