이 기사는 2022년 04월 01일 08시07분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

KCGI’s link to LIG Group and construction firms is in the spotlight as the Seoul-based private equity firm consistently pursues its strategy of capitalizing on corporate succession situations to source deals and find partners by using its solid network in the construction industry.

Kang Sung-boo, chief executive officer of KCGI, started his financial career as a fixed income analyst. In 2015 he was named as CEO of private equity firm LK Investment Partners, part of South Korea’s LIG Group.

The first investment led by Kang at the private equity firm was Yojin Construction & Engineering, which was in trouble after its co-founder suddenly passed away. The late co-founder’s family sold a 45% stake in the company to LK Investment Partners for 55 billion won ($45.3 million) and used the money to pay an inheritance tax bill.

In 2017 LK Investment Partners also acquired shares in Daewon Construction to help succession planning and its transition to a holding company structure.

Since Kang founded KCGI in 2018 after leaving LK Investment Partners, he has continued to follow the same playbook. KCGI purchased 32.6% of Daelim Co Ltd for 120 billion won in 2019 to help the founder’s family resolve tax issues associated with the group’s ownership succession. It seems the deal was sourced through DL Construction, part of Daelim Group.

When KCGI attacked the leadership of Hanjin Group chairman Cho Won-tae who took the helm after his father died in 2019, it joined forces with Bando Engineering & Construction. The two firms and Cho’s elder sister, Hyun-ah, continued to raise their stake in Hanjin KAL, the conglomerate’s holding company, to challenge Cho and his allies, but the three-way alliance ended up being disbanded in 2020.

Kang also used his connections in the construction industry to exit the investment in Hanjin KAL. In March, KCGI signed a deal to sell most of its shares in the company to Hoban Construction.

Kang has built a solid network in the construction industry while he was working at LK Investment Partners, LIG Group’s investment arm, industry watchers said. LIG Group, which was spun off from LG Group in 1999, acquired construction firm Kunyoung in 2006 and renamed it LIG E&C in 2009.

LK Investment Partners has obviously used LIG Group’s wide network of construction firms to find investment opportunities, observers said.

Kang has continued to maintain a close relationship with LIG Group since he left LK Investment Partners, with KCGI purchasing a 25% stake in LIG Corp, the conglomerate’s holding company, earlier this year. (Reporting by Se-hun Jo)