SK On bolsters M&A team with new executive hires

SK On Co., an electric vehicle battery maker of SK Innovation Co., is bolstering its M&A team by hiring M&A experts from a leading law firm and other South Korean companies, raising speculation that it would hunt for overseas acquisition targets.

The new hires come as the world’s No. 5 EV battery manufacturer is seeking to raise 3 trillion won ($2.3 billion) from foreign investors, while planning to build its third battery plant in the state of Georgia, estimated to cost the same amount.

Park Sung Uk, a US attorney specializing in cross-border M&A deals, joined SK On last month as a legal advisor and vice president, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The graduate of Harvard Law School had worked as a foreign attorney and foreign legal consultant at two of the country’s top 10 law firms -- Yoon & Yang LLC and Kim & Chang -- over the past 10 years.

Between 2000 and 2004, he had a stint at Allen & Overy, a UK-based law firm specializing in banking and M&As. Park studied economics at Brown University and business administration at Seoul National University.

He had advised on social casino game maker DoubleUGames Co.’s 950 billion won acquisition of the US-based DoubleDown Interactive in 2017 and the latter’s Nasdaq listing as an American depository share in 2021.

Other transactions handled by him include Germany-based Delivery Hero SE’s $4 billion purchase of Woowa Brothers Corp., the largest food delivery app Baedal Minjok in South Korea.

Another new executive hire is Park Roh-hoon, a former M&A banker of JPMorgan and Mirae Asset Securities Co. Early this month, he was named as head of SK On's financial planning division and vice president. Until recently, he had worked as an M&A manager of CJ Logistics Corp., the country's top transportation company, since 2018.

Kim Ji-nam, an ex-M&A specialist of KB Securities Co., has recently moved to the battery maker to work under Park as a vice president of the financial planning division.

SK On also recruited a consulting specialist Kwon Sang-han, a former partner of PwC, as a vice president back in February.

SK On has yet to reach a break-even point since spun off from SK Innovation in October of last year. It reported 306.9 billion won in net losses in the first quarter of this year, on top of the 238.8 billion won in shortfalls for all of 2021.

To secure 3 trillion won in fresh funding, the company has narrowed bidders to BlackRock, Carlyle, KKR and Singapore's GIC.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article