이 기사는 2021년 06월 30일 07:38 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Private equity firm JC Partners has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Rich & Co in a deal worth 200 billion won ($177 million) as it seeks to bolster its portfolio of insurance businesses.

If the transaction is completed, JC Partners will become the largest shareholder in Rich & Co, which operates the insurtech app Good Rich, according to industry sources.

JC Partners counts MG Non-Life Insurance among its portfolio companies and is also about to complete the acquisition of KDB Life Insurance. The latest deal has enabled the investment firm to expand its portfolio of insurance companies to include a general agency.

A general agency, commonly referred to as a GA, is a company that partners with insurers to market and distribute their products to consumers. In South Korea, the general agency market has grown rapidly since the cross-selling of life insurance and non-life insurance products was permitted in 2008.

“The reliance of insurance companies on GA’s retail channels has continued to increase, with some of them creating teams dedicated to managing GA partners,” an industry insider said.

Rich & Co employed 3,693 insurance planners at the end of 2020, being ranked 12th. But it topped the industry by revenue generated per planner, a metric that shows planner productivity, by a wide margin.

Both MG Non-Life Insurance and KDB Life Insurance have relatively low shares in the respective markets. The acquisition of Rich & Co is a strategic move for JC Partners to turn them around, industry watchers said.

Many large domestic insurers established or considered establishing their own general agencies to expand sales channels. Most recently, Hanwha Life Financial Service, a general agency owned by Hanwha Life Insurance, was launched.

The acquisition of Rich & Co by JC Partners will also likely increase the attractiveness of its portfolio when the firm exits its investments in the future as it could have an option to sell the three companies as a whole. (Reporting by Ar-rum Rho)