Sindoh to tap ex-STIC Investments exec Seo as CEO, spur M&As

Sindoh Co., a leading manufacturer of multi-functional printers in South Korea, is set to tap an investment banking expert as its chief executive. With the new hire, market insiders speculate that the company is targeting buyouts for growth engines.

Sindoh said on Thursday it will vote on appointing Seo Tong Kyu, a former head of Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and former executive managing partner of private equity firm STIC Investments, as the printer maker’s CEO at the general shareholders meeting on Mar. 28.

Seo, who was internally named on Feb. 1, is a financial professional with more than 30 years of experience in the Korean merger and acquisition scene.

At Samil PwC, he led financial advisory services for buyouts of major companies, such as SK Shieldus Co., formerly known as ADT Caps Co., Hyundai Securities, which has become KB Securities, shipping firm Pan Ocean Co. and others.

Sindoh, which has posted operating losses in recent years, is seeking new business opportunities to enhance its profitability through M&As under Seo’s leadership, a banking source said.

Founded in 1960, Sindoh is a pioneer of the office equipment market in Korea. In partnership with Japanese printer and copier maker Ricoh, it developed Korea’s first copy machine in 1964. Since its establishment, Sindoh has been recognized as continuously focusing on its core products with little borrowing.  

The company posted 22 billion won ($16.5 million) in operating profit for the first three quarters of the last year. It holds 808 billion won worth of cash equivalents and has only a 9.6% debt-to-equity ratio.

Sindoh owns real estate assets in the Seongsu area, the so-called Brooklyn of Seoul. The assets’ current book value is estimated to be lower than the 85.3 billion won as of the end of September last year.  

With a 14.6 billion won deficit, Sindoh posted its first operating loss in 2020 as working from home became common amid the peak of the pandemic. 

Sindoh’s earnings were also hurt by the “paperless processing” push among companies that have adopted environmental, social and governance policies. In 2022, the company logged a 2.2 billion won loss.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.