April 18, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] David Rubenstein, co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s top private equity firms, visited Seoul this week amid sales talks of ADT Caps.

During his visit, he held several meetings with government and financial leaders, including Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, Woori Bank CEO Sohn Tae-seung and Kang Shin-woo, chief investment officer of Korea Investment Corp. 

David Rubenstein

His visit comes as Carlyle is seeking a new owner for the Korean security firm it acquired in 2014 for 2.6 trillion won (US$2.43 billion). Now the firm reportedly hopes to sell it for up to 3 trillion won.

Multiple bidders, including CVC Capital Partners, Affinity Equity Partners, Goldman Sachs and Macquarie, submitted a preliminary bid in December. Unlike previous expectations, big names such as Bain Capital, KKR, TPG and MBK Partners didn’t participate, possibly due to the high price.

Meanwhile, industry sources say Carlyle -- in addition to other private equity firms like MBK and CVC -- has joined the 1 trillion won bidding race for CJ Healthcare, the nation’s 10th largest drug maker owned by CJ Group. The deal adviser Morgan Stanley plans to select the preferred bidder later this month or early February.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)