이 기사는 2021년 05월 14일 06시44분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Seoul-based IMM Private Equity (IMM PE), which will acquire a 40% stake in South Korea’s lube base oil supplier SK Lubricants for 1.1 trillion won ($993 million), has started its fundraising process.

IMM PE is inviting limited partners to join the deal, industry sources said on Wednesday. IMM PE and SK Innovation, the parent of SK Lubricants, signed a stock purchase agreement on April 28. The deal will close on July 30.

Immediately after signing the deal, IMM PE held a video presentation for major limited partners including pension funds and mutual aid associations, and explained the deal structure.

The latest deal marks the first investment from the firm's private credit arm, IMM Credit Solution (ICS), launched in the second half of 2020. The fund pursues medium-risk and mid-return by investing in minority stakes, convertible bonds, and redeemable convertible preferred stocks.

ICS plans to create a project fund to complete the deal as it doesn’t have a blind-pool fund yet. About half of the total investment of 1.1 trillion won is expected to be financed through its project fund, with the rest coming from acquisition financing, which will be provided by Shinhan Bank and Hana Financial Investment.

The deal attracted strong interest from strategic and financial investors at home and abroad. Korea Investment Partners, Apollo Global Management and Japan’s biggest refiner ENOES competed along with IMM PE in the final round of bidding. There was reportedly little difference in bid prices among bidders, but IMM PE came up with a more attractive exit strategy.

IMM PE was the only candidate that didn’t include a drag-along clause in its terms and conditions. The PE firm offered the exit strategy that retrieves its invested capital through dividends. The firm chose downside protection that could generate a certain amount of profit even if SK Lubricants fails to go public in five years.

The proceeds from the stake sale will be used to finance SK Lubricants’ electric vehicle battery plants in the U.S. (Reporting by Hee-yeon Han)