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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Sangjin] According to the industry on Sunday, the 6th fund, which is the acquirer of Korea Zinc, backed by MBK, is believed to have its investment composition primarily consisting of foreign capital from China, the Middle East, and other regions.
HanToShin, a public enterprise established under the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in 1996, was put up for privatization in 2002 due to market demands. By 2009, IceTerm became its largest shareholder. In April 2013, LH sold its entire stake (31.29%) in HanToShin to the 'Leading Value 2nd' private equity fund (PEF), which included MK Electronics as a participant, changing the second-largest shareholder from LH to MK Electronics. Afterward, MK Electronics acquired additional shares from individual shareholders, changing the largest shareholder again.
IceTerm, which had been pushed to the second-largest shareholder position, sought a buyer for its stake and expressed its intent to sell to a domestic private equity fund, P Investment.
P Investment was a newly established PEF, with A Invest and B Invest as General Partners (GPs), and global private equity firm K and S Savings Bank as Limited Partners (LPs). However, the revelation that global private equity firm K was the main investor in the PEF raised suspicions of a "sham acquisition." At that time, K reportedly set up three special purpose companies (SPCs), each holding less than 30% of the PEF, contributing funds to P Investment. Financial regulations require approval from the Financial Services Commission for any changes in the major shareholder.
As suspicions and controversies grew over K being the actual acquirer, P Investment eventually partnered with a domestic fund to restructure the acquisition. The new structure saw P Investment and the domestic fund co-managing the fund as joint GPs, with each assuming 50% of the LP contributions. Moreover, the domestic fund was given a 50% voting right and veto power. It was also reported that the fund's bylaws included provisions stating that global private equity firm K would not participate in the fund's management. Despite these changes, the acquisition of HanToShin by the consortium led by global private equity firm K was effectively abandoned.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
