This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 9:10 a.m. on May 21, 2026.
As the sale of IGIS Asset Management, Korea's largest real estate asset manager, is adrift, bookrunner Morgan Stanley is seeking potential buyers to close the transaction. After recent talks with Carlyle, it is said to have sounded out Apollo Global Management about an acquisition.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 21st, Morgan Stanley, the bookrunner for the sale of IGIS Asset Management, is continuing behind-the-scenes contacts with other acquisition candidates in case negotiations with preferred bidder Hillhouse Investment Management Ltd. fall through for good.
Morgan Stanley is considering global private equity managers as candidates to fill Hillhouse's place. Carlyle was previously known to have received a proposal from Morgan Stanley, and more recently a proposal also went to Apollo. However, Apollo is not believed to be seriously considering an acquisition.
Previously, in Dec. last year, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs selected Hillhouse as the preferred bidder to acquire IGIS Asset Management. They initially planned to sign an SPA quickly and apply to the Financial Services Commission for approval of a change in the largest shareholder, but they have not signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) to date. It is understood that they have not even begun prior consultations with the financial authorities, let alone the SPA, prompting various speculations about Hillhouse's intentions.
In this situation, Morgan Stanley, the sell-side bookrunner that must keep the deal moving, is sounding out other candidates about an acquisition. When Hillhouse was selected as the preferred bidder with a 1.1 trillion won offer, Taekwang Group, which had proposed 1.05 trillion won, became the runner-up, but it is said Taekwang has not yet been asked about its acquisition intentions.
Morgan Stanley has already been tied up with the IGIS Asset Management deal for the past two years and is in a position where it must find a suitable buyer again and complete the sale. The sale of IGIS Asset Management began in earnest in Aug. last year, but Morgan Stanley is known to have worked for a year before that to obtain proxies from several shareholders. This is because IGIS Asset Management's equity is dispersed among the largest shareholder Son Hwa-ja (12.4%) and GF Investment (9.9%), as well as Daishin Securities (9.13%), Umi Global (9.08%), Geumseong Baekjo (8.59%), and Hyundai Motor Securities (6.59%).
However, IGIS Asset Management believes Hillhouse still has the will to acquire. They say it is only that deliberations over a strategy for qualifying as a major shareholder are taking longer, and it is not at a stage to discuss a breakdown in negotiations.
IGIS Asset Management is seeking organizational stabilization by restoring relationships with fund limited partners (LPs) following the recent return of Chief Executive Jo Gap-ju. The legal risk, including suspicions of credit support by Jo's family company, is said to have been resolved.