이 기사는 2020년 04월 02일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Morgan Stanley topped South Korea’s M&A financial advisory league table for the first quarter of 2020, thanks to big deals it worked on during the period.

Morgan Stanley came in first in the M&A league table for financial advisory, working on deals worth around 6.03 trillion won in the first three months of 2020, according to figures from the bell’s league table compiled based on closed deals. The investment bank captured 35.66 percent market share. The gap between the top two players - Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse (CS) – was 17.48 percent points.

Morgan Stanley mainly provided financial advisory services for landmark deals of the first quarter, including MBK Partners’ sale of Daesung Industrial Gases (2.5 trillion won) and KKR’s sale of KCFT (1.2 trillion won). The investment bank participated in IMM Private Equity’s sale of Tailim Packaging. Morgan Stanley also provided financial advisory services to both buy-side and sell-side in a deal where Mirae Asset Daewoo bought a 30 percent stake in Naver Financial.

CS ranked second, though it led Morgan Stanley in deal volume. What was notable was that all transactions that CS worked on in the first quarter were deals of SK Group’s subsidiaries. The bank served as a financial advisor for SK Group’s subsidiaries in SKC’s acquisition of KCFT, SK Siltron’s acquisition of DuPont’s silicon carbide (SiC) wafer unit, SKC’s sale of its stake in SKC Kolon PI and SKC’s sale of a 49 percent stake in its chemical business unit. The bank also helped Mirae Asset Daewoo buy a minority stake in SK Broadband.

Based on announced deals, CS is working on SK Networks’ sale of gas station business (1.33 trillion won) and SK E&S’ acquisition of a stake in Australia-based Darwin LNG (345.2 billion won). The two deals’ combined value is almost 1.68 trillion won. Considering there is no announced deal that Morgan Stanley is working on as of now, competition between CS and Morgan Stanley may get fiercer.

Lazard sat in third position, working on one deal in the first quarter. The bank advised Macquarie Korea Opportunities Management on its acquisition of Daesung Industrial Gases from MBK Partners. Lazard ranked in the top ten for the first time in the bell’s league table since 2017.

Korea Investment & Securities (KIS) secured fourth position, the highest rank among South Korean investment banks. KIS helped Woongjin to sell its 25.08 percent stake in Coway, though it was the only transaction it worked on in the first quarter.

Mirae Asset Daewoo, UBS and HSBC, which came in fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, all advised on one deal. Mirae Asset Daewoo advised Sae-A Trading on its acquisition of Tailim Packaging from IMM Private Equity. UBS helped Daelim Industrial to acquire U.S.-based Kraton’s Cariflex TM business. HSBC served as a financial advisor to a buyer when SKC sold its stake in its chemical business unit.

Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) ranked eighth, though it led competitors in deal volume. The accounting firm advised on eight deals during the first three months, the largest number among top ten firms. Its aggregate deal value, however, was less than 500 billion won. Samjong KPMG, which sat in ninth, worked on five deals, most of which were small-sized deals worth multi-million won.

U.S.-based FT Partners secured tenth position. The investment bank advised Net1 on its sale of value added network (VAN) service provider KSNET. This is the first time that FT Partners was included in the bell’s M&A financial advisory league table.

(By reporter Kim Byung-yoon)