Korea's ACE Equity buys stake in semiconductor testing player

The GP will acquire approximately 2.1 million shares from existing shareholders for KRW50,000 apiece, according to a filing. It will also subscribe to 1.16 million newly issued shares at a price of KRW43,091 per share and spend approximately the same amount -KRW50 billion - on a convertible bond. The bond has a four-year tenor and converts into equity at a price of KRW44,238 per share.

Tesna’s stock was trading at KRW41,250 as of late morning on October 14, down 2%. This follows a 5.7% drop on October 11.

Once the transactions are completed, ACE will own a controlling interest in Tesna. The 29.99% acquired from existing shareholders includes CEO Jong-do Lee’s entire 21.55% holding.

The semiconductor value chain is divided into front-end and back-end segments. While the front-end involves the design and manufacture of integrated circuits, the back-end covers final modifications, assembly, and various stages of testing. Tesna conducts immediate post-shipment inspections of products, runs tests, and handles packaging for distribution.

Revenue came to KRW65.3 billion in 2018, up from KRW47.2 billion the previous year. Over the same period, net income rose from KRW8.9 billion to KRW16.2 billion.

ACE was founded last year by David Ko, who was formerly an executive at SkyLake Investment. The firm has KRW800 billion in assets under management across several project funds designed to hold single assets. Previous buyouts include Woojin Electric Machinery, factory software provider Aim Systems, Dong Ah Chemical, and Daeho Technology Korea, a manufacturer of glass used in smart phones.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Buyouts
• Technology
• South Korea
• manufacturing
• Ace Equity Partners
• semiconductor