CVC-Brookfield-GIC consortium sole bidder for Korea’s ADT Caps

A consortium of CVC Capital Partners, Brookfield Asset Management and Singapore’s GIC was the sole bidder for South Korea’s No.2 security services firm, ADT Caps, by the deadline of Feb. 19, as the other shortlisted bidder Macquarie Group has yet to form a consortium.

The CVC-led group has submitted a final bid to buy a 100% stake in ADT Caps from the Carlyle Group, according to investment banking sources.

The deal is tipped to be one of the largest M&A transactions in South Korea this year, worth an estimated 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion).

Macquarie is still in negotiations with an unidentified South Korean conglomerate to make a joint bid for ADT Caps which takes a 30% share of the country’s security services market. Sector leader S1 Corporation, a unit of the Samsung Group, controls 60%.

The sources said that Carlyle may slow the process of selecting a preferred buyer, leaving the possibility open of Macquarie participating as a latecomer after forming a consortium with a South Korean partner.

Meanwhile, CVC recently competed with Carlyle, South Korean private equity firm Hahn & Co. and cosmetic maker Korean Kolmar Co. Ltd to buy 100% of drugmaker CJ HealthCare Corporation.

But the three private equity houses lost to Korean Kolmar which agreed on Feb. 20 to acquire CJ HealthCare for 1.3 trillion won.

CVC has not clinched a deal in the country yet, since selling the South Korean branch of fast-food chain KFC to a domestic company last February.

By Hugh YH Jeong

hugh@hankyung.com

Photo: Getty Images Bank