Four-bidder shortlist for Halla Cement stake
Four bidders have been shortlisted for the full stake in South Korea’s Halla Cement, the country’s fourth-largest cement producer.
Hong Kong-based Baring Private Equity Asia, the largest shareholder of Halla Cement, and its sales advisor Citigroup Global Market Securities Korea have shortlisted four potential buyers: three strategic investors – Asia Cement Co, Sungshin Cement Co and Aju Corporation Co – and private equity fund LK Investment Partners. Last week a total of six investors initially submitted preliminary bids to buy Halla Cement.
The shortlisted bidders have 5-6 weeks to conduct due diligence on the company before submitting final bids in early November. The final bidder will be chosen by mid-November.
Baring PEA acquired the cement producer for around KRW550bn (US$487.6m) last year and is now reportedly seeking between KRW600bn-800bn. Halla Cement has seen significant improvement in its earning during the last year. IN 2016, the cement producer saw its operating income increase to KRW62.8bn, up 43 per cent YoY.
