Hartford Life buys Kumho

Hartford Life buys Kumho

SEOUL (AFP): U.S. financial giant Hartford Life International Ltd. agreed Tuesday to buy a 60 percent stake in Kumho Life Insurance Co. for US$100 million, the Korean company said.

Hartford became the first foreign insurance firm to invest here since South Korea went cap-in-hand for a 57-billion-dollar bailout from the International Monetary Fund in December 1997.

Under an agreement signed in Seoul, the U.S. firm allowed Kumho Life, a financial arm of South Korea's Kumho Group, to retain its managerial control.

Kumho Group officials said the deal would boost the financial power of Kumho Life whose assets were estimated at 575 billion won ($514 million).