MBK agrees $1.1b deal for Korea’s Woongjin Coway

North Asia-focused MBK, which was set up by Michael Kim, former president of Carlyle Asia, will pay KRW50,000 per share, a 33% premium to Coway's closing price on Tuesday. Of the 31% stake, 28.4% comes from Woongjin Holdings and the remainder from other shareholders. Reuters added that Woongjin has right of first refusal to buy back the holding from MBK.

According to The Wall Street Journal, MBK has secured financing from Hana Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group. The private equity firm was advised by Morgan Stanley while Goldman Sachs assisted Woongjin.

The conglomerate first expressed an interest in exiting Coway in February, saying the proceeds would help fund its move into solar energy. It has invested heavily in subsidiaries Woongjin Energy and Woongjin Polysilicon in the last year. The divestment has also been tied to the impact of South Korea's slowing real estate market on Woongjin's construction and financial businesses.

A number of private equity and corporate investors reportedly considered bids for the asset, with Woongjin said to have started out with a target price of up to $1.7 billion. In April, MBK, Affinity Equity Partners and Lotte Shopping were linked to the sale and then in July it was reported that GS Retail had been selected as the preferred bidder.

Most recently, Woongjin told the Korea Exchange that it would team up with KTB Private Equity, an affiliate of KTB Investment & Securities, to acquire the asset for KRW1.2 trillion, half of it in debt. The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding that they would invest in Coway via a special purpose vehicle with KTB putting up 60% of the equity and Woongjin contributing the remainder.

Last week, a group of investors led by Affinity Equity Partners bought a 24% stake in Kyobo Life Insurance, the smallest of Korea's Big Three life insurers, from Posco-owned Daewoo International for KRW1.2 trillion. The deal came two months after Ontario Teachers Pension Plan acquired a 10% stake in the insurance company from South Korean state-owned Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) for $398 million.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Buyouts
• North Asia
• MBK Partners
• South Korea
• buyout
• PIPE
• manufacturing