Prudential Looking To Sell South Korean Asset Management Operations

Less than two years after completing the purchase of its South Korean asset management business, Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) is looking to sell the business, the company said late Sunday.

Prudential said it will look into a possible sale of either Prudential Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. or Prudential Asset Management Co. Ltd. or both, which are headquartered in Seoul. Prudential Financial said the announcement does not affect its life insurance business in Korea.

Prudential acquired 80% of the business that it renamed Prudential Investment & Securities in 2004 from an agency of the South Korean government for $301 million in cash, and paid another $90 million for the remaining 20% in January 2008, according to its second-quarter report.

But its international investments segment's operating income fell by about 50% to $26 million in the first half of 2009 from a year earlier, mostly due to a decline in asset-based fees in its Korean operations and the culmination of an asset management agreement with the Korean government in February 2009. The agreement with the Korean government brought in $9 million in revenue in the first six months of 2008.

Standard & Poor's equity research group maintained its buy recommendation on the news and cited a Reuters report that a sale could fetch Prudential around $700 million.

"We believe the potential sale will not affect PRU's life insurance operations in South Korea and is consistent with the company's recent strategy to shed non-core assets," Bret Howlett, S&P analyst said in a Monday note. "In our view, the deal could free up a substantial amount of capital" that could help Prudential to make a "sizable" U.S. or overseas acquisition, Howlett said.

Shares of Prudential were up 4.8% to $48.99 in recent trading amid generally higher share prices for U.S. life insurers.

-By Lavonne Kuykendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4141; [e-mail]