이 기사는 2021년 09월 08일 08시01분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Affinity Equity Partners and Macquarie Korea Asset Management have joined a bidding war for LG Group’s facility management business, which was up for sale by the South Korean conglomerate to avoid regulatory scrutiny on intercompany transactions.

LG Group received indicative bids mostly from private equity firms late last month, industry sources said on Monday. S&I Corp, a wholly owned subsidiary of LG Corp, last Tuesday announced in a regulatory filing that it will split off its construction and facility management divisions.

Among those emerging as front runners in the bidding are Affinity Equity Partners and Macquarie, both of which previously bought assets and shares offloaded by LG’s affiliates.

Affinity Equity Partners acquired a 60% stake in Serveone, the family-controlled conglomerate’s maintenance, repair and operation unit, in September 2018.

Macquarie is a significant minority shareholder in LG CNS. LG Corp sold 35% of the IT service provider to the investment firm for about 1 trillion won ($863.6 million) in April 2020, beating out rival bidder KKR. The sale reduced LG Corp’s stake in LG CNS from 84.95% to 49.95%, enabling it to avoid scrutiny by the country’s competition watchdog over intercompany transactions.

“Both Affinity Equity Partners and Macquarie have strong interest in acquiring a stake in LG’s facility management business,” a source close to the sale process said.

There is also a possibility of LG Group opting to choose a bidder other than Affinity Equity Partners and Macquarie to avoid any possible controversy over its ties with a specific private equity firm and show that it is a true sale, industry watchers said.

In that case, IMM Private Equity can have an advantage over other bidders, some industry watchers said. The homegrown private equity firm has no transaction history with LG Group but has made several minority investments in the country’s conglomerates for the past years.

The Seoul-based firm invested 250 billion won in Posco Specialty Steel, currently renamed SeAH Changwon Integrated Special Steel, along with Mirae Asset Private Equity in 2013. Its 400 billion won investment in Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, part of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, made it the company’s second-largest shareholder in 2017. The firm also acquired 40% of SK Lubricants for 1.1 trillion won in July 2020. (Reporting by Gyoung-tae Kim)