이 기사는 2021년 05월 18일 07시48분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

A consortium led by DS Networks is likely to seek to purchase the entire 50.75% stake in Daewoo E&C owned by Korea Development Bank (KDB) – unlike Hoban Construction which sought to buy the stake in parts four years ago – as the developer may want to take full control of the builder.

The consortium, which includes private equity firm SkyLake Equity Partners and global investment firm IPM Group, hired Morgan Stanley as its adviser and made a non-binding offer to buy Daewoo E&C. They are conducting due diligence on the property company with a focus on its overseas projects, industry sources said.

As discussions on the sale go on, industry watchers are paying attention to what the possible deal structure could be.

Hoban Construction, which attempted to acquire Daewoo E&C in 2017, had sought to buy 40% of the company first and the remaining 10.75% stake later, while issuing a put option to KDB at an exercise price of 7,700 won ($6.8).

Hoban Construction had wanted KDB to remain as a shareholder of Daewoo E&C after the sale because it needed the bank’s help with doing overseas construction projects, industry watchers said.

“Because Hoban Construction had little experience in overseas markets, it wanted KDB to remain as a shareholder for some period after the sale to get support from the state-controlled bank,” an industry insider said.

However, unlike Hoban Construction, the DS Networks consortium is unlikely to prefer buying the stake in parts.

“The consortium will not likely need support from KDB for overseas projects because of IPM Group with a global network of investments,” said another industry insider. “The investors may rather want to take full control of the company by purchasing the entire stake held by KDB.”

IPM Group is a London-headquartered firm specializing in investments in infrastructure assets and infrastructure-related technologies. It has offices in San Francisco, Hong Kong and Seoul apart from the UK.

In 2018, the IPM-led consortium consisting of South Korean institutional investors acquired a minority stake in a liquefied natural gas terminal in Dunkirk, France. IPM also launched an investment trust fund in collaboration with KDB Infrastructure Investments Asset Management to invest in a public-private partnership with Turkey’s Mersin State Hospital. (Reporting by Byung-yoon Kim)