JPMorgan tops Korea’s H1 M&A advisor list with Prudential deal

Prudential Financial Inc.’s 2.3 trillion won ($1.9 billion) sale of its South Korean unit dominated the country’s M&A advisory market in the first half of this year, catapulting the firms working for the seller and the buyer to the top spots of the league table.

JPMorgan Chase and South Korea’s KB Securities Co. Ltd. secured the top two positions on the M&A advisor list for the January-June period, according to data compiled by the Korea Economic Daily and research firm FnGuide.

They worked for KB Financial Group to acquire the life insurance arm of the US-based Prudential.

JPMorgan and KB Securities also co-managed the 502-billion-won sale of Macquarie Korea Opportunities Management Ltd.’s two Korean waste treatment firms -- Korea Environment Technology Co. Ltd. (Koentec) and Saehan Environment Co. Ltd. -- to a domestic consortium.

Additionally, JPMorgan worked on the 530.5 billion won sale of Magnachip Semiconductor Corp.’s foundry business and a local factory to a SK Hynix-led consortium.

Goldman Sachs came joint second with the single deal of Prudential’s Korean arm in the subdued M&A market amid coronavirus fallout. It handled the sale.

Fourth-ranked HSBC managed the sale of LG Chem Ltd.’s LCD polarizer business to a Chinese company for 1.34 trillion won. The transaction marked the second-biggest buyout deal in South Korea in the first half, after Prudential.

Credit Suisse grabbed the fifth place by handling SK Networks Co. Ltd.’s sale of gas stations for 1.33 trillion won. It ranked first for entire 2019 in the league table.

In the initial public offering market, NH Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. took the top spot by working on five IPO deals, including the 959.3 billion won offering of SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.

Write to Riahn Kim, Jinsung Kim and Woosang Lee at knra@hankyung.com