This article was published on May 20, 2025, at 4:31 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove website.
UAMCO is pushing for the sale of management rights of the ship kitchen appliance manufacturer Samju ENG. This comes about 7 years after UAMCO acquired Samju ENG. The company was acquired by UAMCO during a corporate rehabilitation process due to liquidity deterioration in the shipbuilding industry's downturn in 2018. UAMCO has determined that it is the right time to sell Samju ENG, which supplies kitchen appliances to ships, as the U.S. pursues an extraordinary boom in shipbuilding industry reconstruction policies.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 20th, UAMCO distributed teaser letters (investment guides) to potential buyers, including domestic private equity fund (PEF) management companies, for the sale of Samju ENG. The sale target is Samju ENG's 100% equity held by the 'UAMCO RIBOUNCE First Corporate Financial Stability Private Investment Joint Company.'
Samju ENG is a kitchen appliance manufacturing company established in 1991 as a joint venture with Germany's Thillmann Group. It built up manufacturing capabilities while receiving basic blueprints and technology, and split from Thillmann five years after its establishment. Currently, it manufactures electric stoves, fryers, baking ovens, freezers, dishwashers, and washing machines for ships. In South Korea, it has major shipyards as customers, including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries.
Prior to entering the corporate rehabilitation process, Samju ENG had established transactions with the 'Big Three' shipyards in South Korea, capturing more than half of the market share. However, it stumbled during the process of business diversification to prepare for the shipbuilding industry's downturn after 2011. Following an extended downturn, it faced legal management due to diminished profitability from price reductions.
UAMCO acquired Samju ENG, which was on the market for corporate rehabilitation, for a total of 12 billion won at the end of 2018. It acquired 6 billion won worth in corporate bonds and injected another 6 billion won through a third-party allotment capital increase. Just before UAMCO's acquisition at the end of 2019, Samju ENG recorded an operating loss but quickly turned profitable the following year. As of the end of last year, its sales and operating profit stood at 8.7 billion won and 900 million won, respectively.
After acquiring Samju ENG, UAMCO reorganized its non-core institutional sectors and focused on its main business while also challenging the global market. It currently has secured customers including China's AVIC Weihai, Bohai, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Hitachi Shipbuilding.
Industry experts expect that as the shipbuilding industry enters a supercycle, and with the recent U.S.-China conflict causing the global shipping industry to view Chinese vessels as a risk, Samju ENG will also benefit from this situation. As of the first quarter of this year, the order backlog of South Korea's major shipbuilders is approaching 200 trillion won. Given that it supplies kitchen appliances for ships made by South Korea's shipbuilders, it is deemed an opportune time to sell Samju ENG.
Meanwhile, UAMCO is reorganizing its portfolio contained within its first fund, including Samju ENG. Last year, it sold battery recycling specialist Segi ReTech to KPS, a company listed on the KOSDAQ. During that acquisition round, fierce competition ensued with participation from Young Poong Group, SM Group, and others.