이 기사는 2020년 03월 30일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

BRV Capital Management is to invest in South Korean auto parts company Myoung Shin Co., Ltd., which will likely use the proceeds to expand its production capacity.

BRV Capital Management plans to invest about 120 billion won in Myoung Shin and will soon start due diligence on the company, sources close to the matter said on March 25.

“BRV Capital Management is thinking of investing in Myoung Shin,” one of the sources said, adding that the firm’s planned investment relates to the company’s production line currently being built in Gunsan of North Jeolla province.

BRV Capital Management is expected to buy convertible preferred stock or convertible bond issued by Myoung Shin or its associates. Both the size of the purchase and the proportion of each type of securities are subject to change, but it is likely that convertible preferred stock will account for a bigger share.

“Convertible preferred stock is classified as equity on the issuer’s financial statement, which could work in favor for the issuer in terms of financial ratios. On the other hand, investors would prefer convertible bond as it provides coupon payments,” an industry insider said. “Both parties of the transaction seemingly compromised with each other.”

BRV Capital Management is well known in the domestic market having invested in several domestic companies including Daesung Industrial Gases and EcoPro GEM. It also invested last year in SSG.com, Shinsegae Group’s online shopping platform, in a partnership with Hong Kong-based PE firm Affinity Equity Partners.

Yoon Kwan, general partner at BRV Capital Management, is also a son-in-law of Koo Bon-moo, the late chairman of South Korean conglomerate LG Group. Yoon was reportedly involved in the firm’s investments in Paypal, a U.S. online payment company, and Waze, an Israeli navigation app acquired by Google.

Myoung Shin, which acquired GM Korea’s Gunsan plant last year, will likely deploy the proceeds from the investment by BRV Capital Management to expand its production capacity. At the CES 2020 in Las Vegas, Chinese electric vehicle maker Byton revealed a plan to partner with Myoung Shin as well as its investment plan in South Korea and Japan.

MS Autotech, the parent company of Myoung Shin, plans to manufacture M-Byte, Byton’s first electric car to be sold on a large scale, from 2021. All Byton cars manufactured by MS Autotech will be digested in the domestic market, while those to be shipped to overseas markets will be produced in Nanjing, China.

(By reporter Kim Byung-yoon)