Mirae Asset Global Investments has announced that it signed a contract to invest 290 billion won in Essex Solutions, a U.S. subsidiary of LS Group, on the 5th.
This investment was conducted in a manner where the investors acquired shares issued by the Mirae Asset-KCGI consortium through a third-party allotment capital increase. The Mirae Asset-KCGI consortium, which was selected as the preferred negotiator for the Essex Solutions investment last August, has completed the project fund formation and signed the main contract on the 3rd.
With this investment, the Mirae Asset-KCGI consortium will acquire about 20% of the equity in Essex Solutions. This is equivalent to an estimated pre-IPO market capitalization of about $1 billion (approximately 1.45 trillion won) for Essex Solutions.
Essex Solutions, acquired by LS Group in 2008, traces its roots to Essex Wire Corporation, an American wire company established in 1930. With the recent expansion of demand for hybrid vehicles as an intermediate phase between internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, it exhibits stable revenue and currently ranks first among global winding corporations. Major investment firms, including the Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund (GIC), Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs, and IMM, actively participated in the bidding for this pre-IPO equity investment in Essex Solutions.
Mirae Asset Group explained that it has built a solid partnership based on mutual trust with LS Group. In particular, Mirae Asset Global Investments CEO Choi Chang-hoon personally led this investment, which is considered a turning point for Mirae Asset Private Equity (PE). Vice Chairman Choi directly visited Essex Solutions' U.S. headquarters and engaged in meetings with top executives, actively communicating with LS Group.
Through this investment in Essex Solutions, Mirae Asset Global Investments aims to enhance the competitiveness of its private equity and is expected to actively seek new investment opportunities based on this.
Mirae Asset Global Investments CEO Choi Chang-hoon said, “In the future, Mirae Asset will continue to diversify its portfolio based on its global network as a ‘PE House’ and lead market development through ongoing investment expansion.”