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Photo: Kyobo Life Insurance |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Shin Chang-jae, the chairman of Kyobo Life Insurance, and the private equity firm (PEF) operator Affinity Equity Partners, along with the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, have officially withdrawn their international arbitration lawsuit (ICC) after recovering their investment. This marks the official end of the seven-year-long dispute.
According to financial industry sources on Friday, Affinity and GIC have officially withdrawn the ICC arbitration lawsuit related to the Kyobo Life Insurance put option (the right to sell shares at a specific price).
On the 7th of this month, Affinity and GIC sold their combined 13.55% stake in Kyobo Life Insurance to a special purpose company (SPC) established by the Japanese SBI Group, Shinhan Investment Corp., and Korea Investment & Securities at 234,000 KRW per share. In the transaction, Affinity sold its 9.05% stake to SBI Group, while GIC sold its 4.5% stake to the SPC, completing their investment recovery.
The sale price was about half the price of the put option (410,000 KRW per share) exercised by Affinity in 2018. Previously, Affirma Capital also completed its investment recovery by selling its 5.33% stake to the SPC at 198,000 KRW per share last year.
The Affinity consortium, which had secured a 24% stake in Kyobo Life Insurance in 2012, has effectively dissolved. Chairman Shin Chang-jae, along with his own shares, as well as the shares held by SBI and the SPC, has secured more than half of the favorable voting shares, strengthening his control over the company.
Currently, among the financial institutions involved in the put option, IMM PE and EQT Partners (each holding 5.23%) remain. They maintain that it would be difficult to sell below the principal price of 245,000 KRW per share.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
