Evercore joins as advisor for S.Korea’s Hanon Systems stake sale

Evercore Inc., a New York-based boutique investment banking advisory firm, is joining hands with Morgan Stanley to co-manage the sale of a majority stake in Hanon Systems Corp., a South Korean auto parts supplier.

According to the investment banking industry on Apr. 22, Evercore in March joined as an advisor for the stake sale, through which the sellers hope to gain at least 8 trillion won ($7.2 billion), including the management premium.

Kim & Chang, the largest law firm in Korea, will likely offer legal services for the Hanon transaction, while Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is expected to advise on accounting matters, sources said.

Evercore is known for handling Samsung Electronics Co.’s $8 billion acquisition of Harman, a US electronics systems maker for automobiles, in 2016.

So far this year, Evercore has managed about 50 cases of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) worth a combined $132 billion, ranking sixth in investment banking advisory services, according to Bloomberg.

Formerly known as Evercore Partners, Evercore was the lead manager of Singapore-based ride-hailing company Grab’s merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) for a Nasdaq listing, and advised on the $19.6 billion sale of Nuance Communications to Microsoft.

Last month, sources said Hahn & Co., a Korean private equity investment group, is seeking to sell up to 70% of Hanon, including its holding of 50.5%, to exit from its investment and book gains.

VW MAY FIND INTEREST IN HANON

More recently, Hankook Tire & Technology Co., which owns a 19.5% stake in Hanon, is also said to be joining Hahn & Co. to sell its stake.

The two owners bought their combined 70% stake from Visteon Corp., a US automotive electronics supplier, for 3.8 trillion won in 2014.

Analysts said potential bidders for Hanon include LG Electronics Inc., which is actively venturing into the auto parts industry.

LG launched a vehicle component solutions business in 2013 and acquired Austria-based premium lighting systems maker ZKW in 2018. Last year, LG signed a deal with Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. to launch a $1 billion joint venture to manufacture EV components.

Volkswagen, which plans to make batteries for its electric cars in-house, may also be interested in Hanon, according to industry officials.

Write to Jun-Ho Cha and Ji-Hye Min at chacha@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.