Lee & Ko, Paul Hastings, Kim & Chang and Latham & Watkins have advised on IT services company LG CNS’s KRW1.2 trillion (USD823 million) initial public offering, which is South Korea’s largest IPO since January 2022.
Jun Woo Cho, lead partner of the Lee & Ko team which advised LG CNS on domestic legal matters, told Asia Business Law Journal that, the IPO was conducted as a dual-track offering, requiring not only reviews by the Korea Exchange and the Financial Supervisory Service but also compliance with US securities laws.
Cho added that the IPO held significant importance attracting a high subscription rate amid political and economic instability both domestically and internationally.
“There was significant market interest in whether it would be possible to overcome the prolonged slump in the Korean IPO market since the first half of 2022 and successfully carry out a large-scale IPO with a public offering size exceeding 1 trillion won.”
LG CNS, an information technology service company and a subsidiary of the LG Group, appointed Paul Hastings as its international counsel, with partner Iksoo Kim leading the team. Partner Dong Chul Kim, associate Sye Myung Kim and attorney David Park also provided support.
BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley and KB Securities acted as the lead managers on the transaction. The co-managers were JP Morgan, Mirae Asset Securities, Shinhan Securities and Daishin Securities. Kim & Chang and Latham advised both groups on the local and international aspects of the transaction, respectively.
Hong Kong-based partner Benjamin Carale and Seoul-based counsel Diona Park led the Latham team.
Kim & Chang also confirmed the firm participated in the transaction, but declined to comment further on its involvement.
