Samsung Life to buy Samsung Electronics stake in Samsung Card for US$1.3b

[SEOUL] South Korea's Samsung Life Insurance Co Ltd said on Thursday it will buy Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's 37.5 per cent stake in sister firm Samsung Card Co Ltd for 1.54 trillion won (US$1.3 billion).

Samsung Life, an insurance arm of Samsung Group, the country's biggest conglomerate, already owns 34.4 per cent of the credit card business.

Analysts and investors had long speculated that Samsung Group would eventually consolidate control of its financial arms under the life insurer. The move is seen as part of an ongoing streamlining of the smartphones-to-construction business empire's ownership structure, cementing the founding family's control.

REUTERS