LX Pantos IPO delayed as Mirae Asset sells stake

South Korea’s leading brokerage firm Mirae Asset Securities Co. is poised to sell its stake in LX Pantos Co., adding to expectations of more delays in the domestic logistics company’s listing.

LX International Corp., the trading arm of Korean conglomerate LX Group, said on Friday it agreed to buy a 19.9% stake in LX Pantos for 195 billion won ($135.9 million) from the Mirae Asset Securities II Private Equity Fund.

The acquisition will enlarge LX International’s stake in LX Pantos to 75.9%.

“We aim to improve cash flow through dividend inflows and strengthen the governance structure by increasing the stake,” said an LX International official.

TO POSTPONE LX PANTOS’ LISTING

Mirae Asset’s exit is likely to postpone LX Pantos’ initial public offering further, industry sources said.

Its second-largest shareholder Koo Bennett, known in Korean as Koo Bon-ho, sold 100,000 shares to LX International to reduce his stake to 9.9% in September given the subsidiary’s slower-than-expected listing.

He is the only son of LX Pantos' late founder Bumhan Huengsan. His father was a cousin of Koo Ja-kyung, the late honorary chairman of LG Group.

Founded as air cargo company Bumhan Huengsan Corp. in 1977, LX Pantos has grown into a major logistics company thanks to stable orders through internal deals with companies owned or operated by families or relatives of LG Group.

LX Pantos suffered weaker earnings last year due to plunging ocean freight rates. Its operating profit tumbled 58.3% to 156 billion won in 2023 with sales down 35.5% to 6.9 trillion won.

Write to Ji-Eun Ha at hazzys@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.