The domestic private equity fund (PEF) managers IMM Private Equity and IMM Investment said on the 26th that their consortium signed a deal to sell Hyundai LNG Shipping, a Korea-based shipping company specializing in LNG (liquefied natural gas) vessels that it has held for 11 years, to an affiliate of Indonesia's Sinar Mas Group. (Related article☞[Exclusive] Indonesia's Sinar Mas seeks to acquire Hyundai LNG Shipping)
That day, the consortium signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) to sell 100% of the equity in Aegis One, a special-purpose company (SPC) that functions as the holding company of Hyundai LNG Shipping, to Frontier Resources, a shipping and resource development affiliate of Indonesia's Sinar Mas Group.
The sale price totals 3.8 trillion won including liability, with an equity value of around 400 billion won excluding liability. The IMM consortium acquired the LNG business after partitioning it from HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine) in 2014. The purchase price at the time was 1.03 trillion won, with an equity value of 400 billion won.
Hyundai LNG Shipping is Korea's largest liquefied gas specialist carrier, operating 12 LNG carriers, six liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, and one LNG bunkering vessel.
The buyer, Frontier Resources, is a major resource development affiliate of Indonesia's Sinar Mas Group. It owns resource and logistics networks in Australia and Asia, and appears strongly committed not only to resource development in regions such as Australia but also to entering the seaborne transportation of resources.
The consortium said, "Sinar Mas Group has a strong logistics and resource development network in Asia, including Singapore and Indonesia, and in Australia, and is expected to serve as a critical bridgehead for Hyundai LNG Shipping to secure new projects and transport opportunities in Asia and Australia."
It added, "If Sinar Mas's local Australian network is combined with Hyundai LNG Shipping's operating experience, the likelihood of securing new Australia-related LNG projects is expected to expand significantly," expressing expectations for various bidding opportunities centered on Singapore, which is rapidly growing as a global LNG bunkering hub, synergy with existing maritime logistics infrastructure, and stable employment succession.
The IMM consortium appointed Citigroup Global Markets Securities as the sell-side advisor and explored a sale to multiple financial and strategic investors starting in 2020, but it failed to close a transaction because the prices offered at the time did not reach the principal level.
However, the consortium noted that factors warranting a reassessment of corporate value have accumulated—such as visible progress in global LNG projects including Alaska LNG, improved results at Hyundai LNG Shipping, securing new shippers, and strengthening long-term contract foundations—leading it to find an overseas buyer that met IMM's valuation criteria.