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Source=LX International |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] LX International has acquired a 19.9% stake in LX Pantos, previously held by Mirae Asset Securities' private equity (PE) team. According to a disclosure submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 6th, LX International purchased the shares from the "Mirae Asset Securities Korea No. 2 Private Equity Investment Limited Partnership" for 1.95 trillion won.
Mirae Asset Securities PE had acquired the 19.9% stake in LX Pantos for 1.45 trillion won in 2018, buying it from LG Group's Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and his family.
LX Pantos, founded in 1977, is a global integrated logistics service company, ranking as the number one company in South Korea for air and sea export-import cargo volume. It was originally a family business of KK Holdings and Pantos Holdings but became a subsidiary of LG Corp when LG acquired 51% of its shares in 2015. It later became part of LX Group following a corporate spin-off.
Despite experiencing a significant decline in revenue and operating profit last year, with a 35.5% drop in revenue (6.88 trillion won) and a 58.3% decrease in operating profit (156 billion won), LX Pantos has pursued several IPO attempts. Efforts to go public were delayed by the global shipping industry downturn and the spin-off of LX Group.
In addition, in September, LX International purchased 5% (100,000 shares, valued at 490 billion won) of LX Pantos' stock from Chairman Koo Bon-ho.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
