Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has received approval from Polish antitrust regulators to increase its stake in UK-based Lloyd’s insurer Canopius, paving the way for deeper involvement in the global specialty insurance market.
Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) announced on August 6 that it had cleared Samsung Fire’s acquisition of additional shares in Canopius’s parent company, Fortuna Topco Limited.
In June, Samsung Fire signed a deal to acquire existing shares in Fortuna Topco for $570 million. The transaction boosts the Korean insurer’s stake in Canopius by 21.17 percentage points, raising its total ownership to 40.03%. Samsung Fire had previously invested $300 million in both 2019 and 2020.
With the expanded stake, Samsung Fire is expected to enter a de facto joint management structure with Canopius’s largest shareholder—a consortium led by U.S. private equity firm Centerbridge. The company plans to secure more seats on the board and gain greater decision-making power on key strategic issues.
Since Samsung Fire’s initial investment, Canopius has achieved strong growth by diversifying its underwriting portfolio and expanding its geographic footprint. The insurer reported $3.53 billion in revenue as of the end of last year.
Samsung Fire has accumulated operational experience through board participation, reinsurance partnerships, and personnel exchanges with Canopius. In 2024, the Korean firm posted approximately $230 million in revenue through reinsurance collaboration and recorded $67 million in equity-method earnings.
“This latest investment is more than a financial transaction—it marks a strategic milestone toward joint global management and value creation,” said Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance CEO Lee Moon-Hwa in June. “We will continue to expand aggressively overseas and pursue innovation as we evolve into a world-class global insurer.”
