This article was published on July 17, 2025, at 4:48 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Global private equity fund manager EQT is on the brink of a refinancing sell-down for SK shieldus. This refinancing sell-down, totaling 3.3 trillion won, is the largest of the year. Multiple institutions have acquired amounts in the billion won range.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 17th, the lead arrangers for SK shieldus's refinancing—KB Kookmin Bank, KB Securities, and Korea Investment & Securities—are nearly finished with the sell-down. An industry official noted, “We are waiting for the investment commitments (LOC) from a few remaining institutions.”
This refinancing is being conducted as a so-called “joint syndication.” Each arranger will bundle the remaining amounts into a single joint pool and sell it down jointly to external investors, distributing the results based on each arranger's equity stake. KB Kookmin Bank will take 60%, KB Securities 30%, and Korea Investment & Securities 10%.
For example, if the three arrangers acquire a total of 2.5 trillion won in remaining amounts, and one institution acquires 100 billion won from that, then 600 billion won, 300 billion won, and 100 billion won will be allocated to each arranger based on their equity stakes.
In the case of KB Kookmin Bank, which arranges 60% of the total, it is reported to have directly acquired 700 billion won out of approximately 2 trillion won. This means they will assume 35% of the total. Even if the syndication fails, this indicates they are willing to bear that much risk.
One of the institutions that acquired the most volume among syndication participants is Korea Securities Finance. It is reported to be acquiring a total of 200 billion won. Korea Securities Finance decided to participate in this syndication based on its close relationship with KB Financial Group.
There are also quite a few institutions entering with amounts of 100 billion won. It is reported that NongHyup Central Council, the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, and Samsung Asset Management have already submitted LOCs and finalized payments or are waiting for commitments.
This refinancing is a restructuring of the acquisition financing for SK shieldus, in which EQT acquired a 68% stake from SK Square and Macquarie Asset Management in 2023. EQT had previously raised acquisition financing of 2.35 trillion won through KB Securities with a maturity of five years and borrowed 450 billion won from SK Square.
The refinancing structure consists of a borrowing of 24 trillion won for the operating company, SK shieldus, a borrowing of 6 trillion won for the holding company special purpose corporation (SPC), and a revolving credit facility (RCF) of 3 trillion won for working capital.