KL Partners Corporate / M&A Practice Group is led by experts who are widely recognized as leading lawyers in the field with unparalleled expertise and experiences, and we pride ourselves in providing in–depth advice on a broad spectrum of corporate matters, including M&As and cross–border investments.

We advise domestic and foreign companies and private equity sponsors on friendly M&As based on our extensive know–how and expertise accumulated through performing legal due diligence, transaction structure review, and contract negotiations for clients in a wide array of industries, such as manufacturing, distribution, finance, IT, platform, and bio.

Also, we have advised leading domestic companies, major shareholders, activist funds on how to best defend against hostile takeovers, corporate governance and the exercise of shareholder rights. Our team has wide–ranging experiences in representing private equity sponsors in all areas of fund operations and transactions, including fund registration, formation of new PE funds, acquisition financing, exit transactions, and disputes involving PE funds, and we have represented many domestic and foreign investors on their outbound / inbound cross–border investments.

In particular, for speedy and efficient handling of the clients’ matters, KL Partners adopts a ‘hands–on’ approach where the partners – including the team leader Seong Hoon (Sean) Yi – directly communicate with the clients and provide counsel.

1. FRIENDLY M&As

• Represented in the acquisition of Ssangyong Material Corp. by Union Co. (2017)
• Represented in the sale of Dongbu Express by KTB PE (2017)
• Represented in the acquisition of Ebridge Co. by Highland Equity Partners (2017)
• Represented in the sale of Kumho Construction & Engineering (HK) Co., Ltd. Kumho by Kumho Buslines Co. (2017)
• Represented in the acquisition of Kumho Busline Co. by Kumho Holdings (2017)
• Represented in the acquisition of WiseUX Gobal (Imdak) Co. by Credian Partners and Korean Investment Partners (2017)
• Represented KTB PE, SBI, and shareholders of Dongbu Daewoo Electronics in the sale of Dongbu Daewoo Electronics (2018)
• Represented JKL Partners in the acquisition of Donghae Machinery & Aviation (2018)
• Represented Swiss Miebelle Group in the acquisition of Gowoonsesang Cosmetic (2018)
• Represented KTB PE in the sale of Junjin Heavy Industry Inc. (2018)
• Represented Highland PE in the sale of Ebridge and Concert (2018)
• Represented GS ITM shareholders in the sale of GS ITM (2018)
• Represented FourSeason Capital and Whale Investment in the acquisition of KURI CHUNGKWA (2019)
• Represented Kumho Group in the acquisition of Kumho Construction Hong Kong (2019)
• Represented Dongil Industry in the acquisition of D Automotive from Hanwha Group (2019)
• Represented City Storage Systems LLC in the acquisition of HAT Company (2019)
• Represented Asset Pricing Holdings in the sale of Korea Asset Pricing Co. (2019)
• Advised Asiana Airlines on the issuance of convertibles to KDB/Korea Exim Bank (2019)
• Represented Neoplux PEF in the sale of Look Optics (2019)
• Represented Legend Capital (Ocean Core Limited) in the acquisition of Zinus, Inc. (2019)
• Represented LK Investment Partners and A2 Partners Pte Ltd in the acquisition of Samyang Optics (2019)
• Represented Korea Kolmar Holdings Co., Ltd. in the acquisition of TKM (2019)
• Represented JKL Partners in the sale of WITH Innovation Corp. (2019)
• Represented Chunil Express on the sale of Live Savings Bank (former Sambo Mutual Savings & Finance Co. Ltd.) (2019)
• Represented InfraInitiative PEF in the acquisition of KC Enviro Services (2019)
• Represented S-WON P&P in the acquisition of Sungwon Industry Co., Ltd. (2019)
• Represented major shareholders of Namyeung Vivien corp in the sale of Namyeung Vivien corp. (2019)
• Represented Cactus PE and Dashin PE in the acquisition of BS Rental (2019)
• Represented Green Cross Corp. in the acquisition of UB Care (2019)
• Advised Synaptic PE on its investment in GC Healthcare Co., Ltd (2019)
• Advised J& Private Equity on its investment in C&I Leisure Industry (2019)
• Advised SOCAR on its bond issuance to SoftBank Group Corp. (2019)
• Advisory on the M&A transactions between Daewoo Electronics Service and Daeyu Winia Service (2019)
• Advised Kumho Asiana Group’s sale of Asiana Airline to HDC Hyundai Development company (2020)
• Represented Korea Kolmar Holdings Co., Ltd. in its sale of pharmaceutical business division (2020)
• Represented JKL Parnters and MIDAS PE in its investment in Megazone Cloud Corp. (2020)
• Represented SKT in the establishment of mobility joint venture with Uber (2020)
• Represented SOCAR on its investment attraction (2020)
• Represented Credian PE in the acquisition of MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp.’s foundry business (2020)
• Represented GS Energy in its share acquisition of GS Power (2021)
• Represented JKL Partners on its investment in T’way Air. (2021)
• Represented Tmap Mobility in connection with its acquisition of YLP Co., Ltd. (2021)
• Represented SK Telecom in its equity issuance of T Map Mobility Co., Ltd. to private equity investors (2021)
• Represented Cactus PE in the acquisition of Korea Asset Pricing Co. (2021)
• Represented Genesis Management in its acquisition of Jangwon ZET (2021)
• Represented Genesis Management in its acquisition of Woojin Environment & Development Co., Ltd. (2021)
• Represented Seonghwa Industrial Co., Ltd. in its acquisition of Gwangyang Environment (2021)
• Represented Shinhan Venture Investment in its acquisition of M & Tech (2021)
• Represented Danal Co., Ltd. its acquisition of the stakes in Manna Corporation (2021)
• Representation of Kumho Express in connection with its acquisition of the majority shares in Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corp. (2021)
• Represented KH Investment in connection with its acquisition of the stakes in STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (2021)
• Representation of Medici Investment in connection with its acquisition of the minority shares in Hancom (2021)
• Representation of GS Energy in connection of its sale of GS Power to SPC (2021)
• Represented Cactus PE in its acquisition of AJjunsymall (2021)
• Represented SK Square in its investment into Green Labs Co. (2021)
• Represented Bailey PE in its investment into Manna Corporation (2021)
• Represented Genesis Management in its acquisition of KD Petro (2021)
• Represented Synaptic Investment in its investment into System R&D (2021)
• Advisory on the M&A transactions between Bongbong and CinnamonGames (2021)
• Representation of GS Construction and Xi S&D in connection of their share acquisitions of S&I Construction (2022)
• Representation of JKL Partners in connection of its 24.9% stakes acquisition in LS-Nikko Copper Inc. (2022)
• Buyout transaction in connection with Kolmar Korea’s 55% acquisition of Yonwoo(manufacturing of cosmetic container) (2022)
• Represented STraffic Co., Ltd. in the spin-off of its electric vehicle charging business and investment into SSCharger Co., Ltd. with SK Networks and Anchor Equity Partners (2022)
• Represented founding shareholders in the sale of KNet Co. Ltd to Hexatronic Group AB (2022)
• Represented Korean conglomerate in the establishment of and investment into a joint venture in United Arab Emirates (2022)
• Represented Mirae Asset Capital in its investment into Good Choice Company, company operating Yeogi Eottae (2022)
• Represented JKL Partners in its co-investment into Fulcrum BioEnergy (2022)
• Represented Voronoi in its licensing-out agreement with METiS Therapeutics for a pan-RAF inhibitor program (2022)
• Represented Qurient in its licensing-out agreement with TB Alliance for Telacebec (Q203) for treatment of tuberculosis (2022)
• Represented NHN in its acquisition of Injeinc Co., Ltd. (2022)
• Represented Ark & Partners in its investment into KASINA (2022)
• Represented OSR Holdings Co., Ltd. in its stock exchange of a foreign company (2022)

2. HOSTILE M&As

• Represented Elliott in its exercise of shareholder proposal rights with regard to Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Mobis
• Represented a major shareholder of Kumho Petrochemical in its exercise of shareholder proposal rights with regard to Kumho Petrochemical
• Represented a major shareholder of Cape in its exercise of shareholder proposal rights with regard to Cape
• Represented Dongil Industries in its response to a major shareholder’s exercise of shareholder proposal rights
• Represented a major shareholder of Hankook & Company in its exercise of shareholder proposal rights with regard to Hankook & Company
• Represented a major shareholder of Hyeop Hwa in its defense against an attempt of hostile takeover

3. PROVATE EQUITY FUNDS

• Our team has advised over 30 private equity firms including JKL Partners, KDB PE, Eugene PE, KTB PE, Cactus PE, Synaptic PE, Neoplux PEF, Credian Partners, Keistone PE, Medici PE, Midas PE, Gravity PE, Korean Investment Partners, LK Investment Partners, FourSeason Capital, and Highland Equity Partners.

Arbitration

Litigation