The Aekyung Group's affiliated golf course, the Jungbu Country Club (CC), is being acquired by the TheSiena Group. The sale price is reported to be around 200 billion won.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 29th, Samjong KPMG, the lead manager for the sale of Jungbu CC, recently selected TheSiena Group as the preferred negotiator for the acquisition of Jungbu CC and notified them of the result.
The price is approximately 200 billion won. Considering that Jungbu CC has an 18-hole course, it is valued at about 11 billion won per hole.
The performance deposit paid by TheSiena Group is reported to be 6 billion won. An IB industry official noted, "Typically, the performance deposit is about 5% of the equity transaction price," adding, "Considering this, TheSiena Group would have invested 120 billion won this time and would have arranged the remaining 80 billion won through liabilities such as membership fees."
The entire amount from the sale of Jungbu CC will go to its parent company, Aekyung Chemical. Aekyung Chemical holds 100% of the equity in Jungbu CC. After selling Jungbu CC, the Aekyung Group is expected to transfer the sale proceeds to its holding company, AK Holdings, which has a 60% stake in Aekyung Chemical.
In the acquisition battle for Jungbu CC, candidates with financial power, including Kumho Petrochemical's subsidiary Kumho Resort, I-Soo Group, and Samchuly, made headlines. However, the price offered by TheSiena Group, which was around 200 billion won, was the highest, and ultimately, TheSiena was chosen as the new owner of Jungbu CC, outshining formidable competitors.
TheSiena Group is a company that owns TheSiena CC in Jeju and resorts, including TheSiena Samcheok Resort. They sold membership rights worth several hundred million won, reportedly with conditions allowing members to also use golf courses in the metropolitan area.
For this reason, TheSiena Group signed a contract in April to acquire the Seorajiog GC in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province from Stonebridge Investment Group. They also pursued a plan to participate in the acquisition of Kakao VX, which was managing Seorajiog GC, but ultimately opted to pay a penalty to Kakao VX and decided only to purchase Seorajiog GC. The acquisition price was over 10 billion won per hole.
With Jungbu CC's preferred negotiator selected, the Aekyung Group is expected to intensify the sale of Aekyung Industrial as well. They aim to receive preliminary bids as early as the second week of June. Initially, AK Holdings considered retracting the sale of Aekyung Industrial if Jungbu CC sold for a high price, but reports suggest they have changed their plan and confirmed they will sell both. The desired sale price for Aekyung Industrial from the selling side is around 600 billion won.