Korean firms Lee & Ko and Kim & Chang have advised on private equity firm Hahn & Company’s KRW2.6 trillion (USD1.8 billion) acquisition of SK Specialty from SK Corporation.
The transaction attracted a lot of market attention as it was a particularly significant large-scale deal within SK Group’s restructuring efforts.
“As the target company is located within an industrial complex, reviewing the regulations related to the industrial complex was crucial for this transaction,” said Kyungchun Kim, lead partner of the Lee & Ko team, which provided advisory services to SK Corp throughout the entire process.
SK Specialty is a world leading producer of specialty gases essential for semiconductors and display panels. The sale of the world’s leading specialty gases producer, coupled with a deal involving Korea’s premier private equity firm Hahn & Company, added to the prominence of the transaction.
“SK Group could secure considerable liquidity through this deal, allowing the group to restructure its business framework and concentrate on its core operations,” said Kim. Lee & Ko partners Ji Hyeong Park and Joohyun Oh also provided additional counsel to SK Corp.
Being a large-scale deal, it required the buyer to file domestic and international merger filings, which was handled by Kim & Chang attorneys Wan Suk Kim and Eunbee Kim.
Hahn & Company announced on 31 March that through this transaction, it had secured an 85% stake in SK Specialty, with SK Corp retaining 15%. Both companies said they plan to work closely with each other to continually enhance both SK Specialty and value for its shareholders.
