LCS Group, Bosung Powertec to form $40 mn fund for telecom tower project

LCS Group Korea, a South Korean corporate set up by the Philippines' LCS Group of Companies, signed a joint venture establishment contract on Oct. 22 with Korean electric power company Bosung Powertec Co. for telecommunication tower projects in the Philippines. The two companies plan to form a $40 million construction material fund in Singapore through a special purpose corporation (SPC).

US-based Boulevard Capital Management and Korea’s Hyundai Asset Management. Co. will be the underwriters, aiming to form the construction fund by next month.

In February, LCS Group Korea and Bosung Powertec signed a contract to supply materials for, construct and operate 320 telecommunication towers in the Philippines. Bosung Powertec had provided materials for 100 telecommunication towers as of end-July and will pursue additional construction after completing the existing 320 towers project.

The group will install more than 6,000 towers across the Philippines in the next five years. Dito Telecom, a major mobile network operator in the Philippines, will pay for the master lease of the towers for 25 years.

LCS Group has expanded its investment in Korea-related businesses. In August, the group signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to invest and participate in a $1.7 billion resort development project on the country’s east coast alongside Gangwon Province, the East Coast Free Economic Zone Authority, Korea Investment & Securities Co. and Hyundai Asset Management Co. The Group said it completed a $100 million foreign direct investment (FDI) report last month on Sep. 23.

The group is also eyeing launching a Korean food business in the Philippines. In February, the group signed a franchise contract with Korea’s Genesis BBQ, a global fried chicken franchise operating in around 60 countries, to open the business in the Philippines. It aims to open its first fried chicken outlet in the Southeast Asian country by the end of this year and set up more than 1,000 outlets by 2025, according to the company’s website.

Write to A-young Yoon at youngmoney@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.