Glenwood buys three waste management firms for about $190 mn

Glenwood Private Equity on Tuesday signed an agreement to buy three waste management companies from small South Korean business group Bubang for around 260 billion won ($190 million), according to people familiar with the matter.

Under the contract, Bubang will sell Techcross Environmental Services Inc., Techcross Water & Energy Inc. and Bugok Environment Co.’s Chinese subsidiary to the Seoul-based buyout firm, withdrawing from the waste treatment market.

Bubang started as a textile manufacturer in 1934 and has diversified into the home appliance and waste treatment markets through acquisitions. It is better known for its signature rice cooker brand, Cuchen.

Since its purchase, Techcross Environmental Services and Techcross Water & Energy have logged significant growth in both sales and profits.

In 2023, Techcross Environmental Services' operating profit came in at 11.3 billion won, up from 4.3 billion won in 2019, around the time when Bubang took it over. Sales climbed to 194.1 billion won, versus 143.1 billion won over the same period.

Techcross Water & Energy posted an operating profit of 6.7 billion won on sales of 382.1 billion won in 2022. That compares with 1.3 billion won in operating profit against revenue of 183.4 billion won in 2019.

Bubang purchased the two waste management companies from LG Group in 2019. Their revenue stems mainly from LG Group’s units such as LG Electronics Inc. and LG Display Co.

Glenwood seeks to diversify the companies' customer bases to unlock their corporate value.

With $3.0 billion in assets under management, the private equity house has built its reputation with carve-out deals, taking non-core assets of large business groups.

Last month, it took full control of SGC Green Power, a biomass power plant operator, at 322.2 billion won after purchasing SK Purcore Co., a polyurethane raw materials producer under SKC Ltd., at 402.4 billion won earlier this year.

In 2023, it acquired LG Chem's in vitro diagnostics business for 200 billion won.

Samjong KPMG managed the sale of the three waste management companies.

Write to Jun-Ho Cha at chacha@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.