On October 7, 2021, Cigna group entered a stock purchase agreement to sell the equity interests of certain companies operating across seven countries, including LINA Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (“LINA Life”) and Cigna Korea, to Chubb group for USD $5.75 billion in cash (this event is hereby referred to as “the Transaction”). The Transaction was successfully completed on July 1, 2022. Kim & Chang advised Cigna Group in this transaction with respect to due diligence on LINA Life and other divested companies in Korea, review and execution of the stock purchase agreement and other legal advice necessary or required for the transaction.
LINA Life accounts for a significant part among the companies being divested by Cigna Group. Our firm closely supported Cigna Group throughout the process to ensure efficient and successful execution of the stock purchase agreement within a short time frame, by providing expert advice on Korean laws and regulations applicable to insurance business, and tax, labor and other issues.
The transaction was further complicated because changing the majority shareholder of a life insurance company in Korea - which was vital for the transaction - requires the financial supervisory authorities’ approval, and said supervisory authorities have the discretion of whether or not to grant such approval. Our firm played a vital role in successfully obtaining such approval for the parties.
