Credit Suisse retains top spot in Korea’s M&A advisory league

Credit Suisse has maintained its top position on South Korea’s M&A advisory league table in 2020, working on most of the high-profile deals announced in the country this year.

Since Managing Director David Kyungin Lee took charge of the bank’s Korean investment banking team in 2017, the Swiss bank has secured the lead in the M&A league for three years, including last year.

Credit Suisse was involved in all of Doosan Group’s four asset divestments this year, as a sale manager for three companies, while working on the buyer’s side of copper foil maker Doosan Solus Co. The four Doosan deals were worth nearly 2 trillion won in aggregate.

Currently, the Swiss bank is handling the sale of a controlling stake in Doosan Infracore Co. It also joined the pool of banks arranging a financing package for SK Hynix Inc.’s $9 billion purchase of Intel Corp.’s NAND memory chip business at the last minute, along with Deutsche Bank.

                              2020 M&A Advisory League Table       
                                                    

Ranking	Company name	Deal Value (in billion KRW)	No. of Deals
1	Credit Suisse	17,149.4	11
2	Citigroup Global Market	12,280.6	4
3	Deutsche Securities	10,761.0	2
4	BoA Merrill Lynch	10,751.5	3
5	Samil PwC	4,431.5	40
6	KB Securities	3,382.1	5
7	Goldman Sachs	3,365.8	3
8	JP Morgan	3,297.5	3
9	Samjong KPMG	2,139.9	17
10	HSBC	1,889.8	2
Note: Based on announced deals
Source: The Korea Economic Daily and FnGuide

Citigroup Global Markets Korea, headed by Park Jang-ho for 15 years, managed the deal between SK Hynix and Intel, jointly with Deutsche Bank and BoA Merrill Lynch. 

Park first tapped SK Hynix around June of last year to propose the cross-border purchase, marking the largest acquisition by a South Korean company.

“Its first deal closing is scheduled for the end of next year, and the final closing, in which the remaining balance of 2.2 trillion won should be paid, is scheduled for 2025,” said a source with direct knowledge of the SH Hynix-Intel transaction. “Because it is a long-term transaction, the number of banks participating in the financing package has increased.”

Citigroup also advised on the sale of two major Korean waste management companies worth a combined 1.9 trillion won.

On the league table compiled by The Korea Economic Daily and FnGuide, fifth-ranked Samil PwC, an accounting firm, concentrated on smaller deals in the hundred million dollar range.

Among legal advisors, Kim & Chang, South Korea’s largest law firm, retained the top position. EY Han Young, the Korean operation of Ernst & Young, ranked first on the accounting advisory list, working on 14 deals worth 14.5 trillion won, including the deal between SK Hynix and Intel.

Ranking	Company name	Deal Value (in billion KRW)	Market share (%)	Major deals
1	Korea Investment & Securities	2,900.6	24.28	Doosan Heavy rights offering
2	NH Investment & Securities	2,283.4	19.11	Big Hit Entertainment IPO
3	KB Securities	1,443.1	12.08	Korean Air rights offering
4	Mirae Asset Daewoo	1,276.1	10.68	Kyochon F&B IPO
5	Eugene Investment & Securities	765.5	6.41	Hanjin KAL bonds of warrants sale
6	Kiwoom Securities	454.3	3.80	N/A
7	Citigroup Global Market	413.0	3.46	SK Biopharm IPO
8	Hana Financial Investment	389.7	3.26	N/A
9	Samsung Securities	375.1	3.14	Kakao Games IPO
10	Shinhan Investment Corp	354.5	2.97	N/A
Source: The Korea Economic Daily and FnGuide

Write to Ri-Ahn Kim, Jun-ho Cha and Geun-Ho Im at knra@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.