April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] US private equity firm Carlyle Group is seeking to sell ADT Caps, a Korean security service firm that it acquired in 2014, according to The Bell on June 26.

The firm reportedly sought to sell the firm in a private deal but failed to find a potential bidder. It recently appointed Morgan Stanley as the deal adviser, the report added. 

Carlyle acquired ADT Caps, the nation’s No. 2 security firm, from US-based Tyco for US$1.93 billion. Its sales surged from less than 600 billion won (US$527.86 million) before the acquisition to 700 billion won last year.

The report said Carlyle is hoping to sell the firm for up to 3 trillion won. The selling price is considered higher than market consensus.

“Carlyle’s several talks for the sale failed due to the high price,” an industry source was quoted as saying in the report. “It seems tricky to find a bidder who has a strong will to enter the security market and funding ability for the deal.”

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)