[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The domestic private equity consortium led by IMM Private Equity and IMM Investment announced on the 26th that it has signed an agreement to sell Hyundai LNG Shipping, South Korea’s leading LNG carrier operator, to an affiliate of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group after 11 years of ownership.
The consortium signed a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) to sell 100% of the shares of Aegis One, the special purpose company (SPC) that serves as the holding entity of Hyundai LNG Shipping. The buyer is Frontier Resources, the shipping and resource development arm of Sinar Mas Group.
The total transaction value is KRW 3.8 trillion including debt, with the equity value estimated at around KRW 400 billion. IMM consortium originally acquired the business in 2014 when it purchased HMM’s (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine) LNG division for KRW 1.03 trillion, which also reflected an equity value of roughly KRW 400 billion at that time.
Hyundai LNG Shipping currently operates 12 LNG carriers, 6 LPG carriers, and 1 LNG bunkering vessel, making it South Korea’s largest operator specializing in liquefied gas transport.
Frontier Resources, the acquirer, is a core resource development subsidiary of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group. The company maintains strong logistics and resource networks across Australia and Asia and is seeking to expand into maritime logistics in resource-producing regions such as Australia.
According to the consortium, Sinar Mas’s extensive networks in Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia will serve as a strategic foothold for Hyundai LNG Shipping to secure new LNG transport contracts and participate in regional LNG projects. The combination of Sinar Mas’s on-the-ground capabilities and Hyundai LNG Shipping’s operational expertise is expected to significantly enhance opportunities related to Australian LNG projects, as well as strengthen participation in LNG bunkering tenders centered around Singapore, a rapidly growing global LNG bunkering hub.
The deal also provides synergies through integrated logistics infrastructure, enhanced competitiveness in international tenders, and stable employment succession.
The IMM consortium had appointed Citigroup Global Markets as the sell-side advisor and explored multiple financial and strategic buyers since 2020. Previous attempts were unsuccessful due to valuation gaps. However, recent visibility around major global LNG projects such as Alaska LNG, Hyundai LNG Shipping’s improved performance, new customer contracts, and strengthening of long-term charter agreements helped elevate the company’s valuation to a level that met IMM’s expectations.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
