이 기사는 2021년 03월 19일 10시30분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Morgan Stanley is strengthening its presence in the South Korean mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory market, advising on multiple large-scale deals in the first quarter.

Morgan Stanley is currently acting as financial advisor for JobKorea, eBay Korea and Yogiyo deals. The sale of JobKorea, one of the blockbuster deals in 2021, is approaching the finish line after Affinity Equity Partners was selected earlier this month as the preferred bidder in the deal estimated to be worth 1 trillion won ($890 million).

The sale of eBay Korea is also attracting strong attention. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are working on the deal. The competition is getting tougher as multiple South Korean conglomerates joined the race after Coupang made a successful debut on the New York Stock Exchange recently.

Major strategic investors including the country’s retail giants, SK Telecom and Qoo10 submitted their preliminary bids for eBay Korea, which is estimated to be valued at around 4 trillion won.

Morgan Stanley was selected as an advisor for the sale of Delivery Hero's South Korean unit, Yogiyo. It recently distributed investment teasers to potential buyers. The sale is likely to be completed this year.

Morgan Stanley also advised on the sale of Hyperconnect, which operates video chat app. The company’s sale price of 2 trillion won surprised many market insiders.

Morgan Stanley has made notable achievements in the country’s M&A advisory market over recent years. It advised on large deals including MBK Partners’ sale of Daesung Industrial Gases (2.5 trillion won) and KKR’s sale of KCFT (1.2 trillion won). It also assisted both buyer and seller in IMM Private Equity’s sale of Tailim Packaging and Mirae Asset Daewoo’s acquisition of a 30% stake in Naver Financial.

Credit Suisse topped the M&A financial advisory league tables in 2020, advising on closed deals worth total 8 trillion won. The second spot was taken by Morgan Stanley. The gap between the two was about 350 billion won. There may be a change in rankings if many multi-trillion-won deals are closed in the first quarter.

SK Hynix’ acquisition of Intel’s NAND business for $9 billion may also affect the financial advisory rankings if it is closed this year. (Reporting by Seon-young Kim)