이 기사는 2020년 02월 11일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Hahn & Company’s acquisition of the biofuel business of SK Chemicals, which was announced last week, is drawing attention from market watchers as the deal reaffirms a strong relationship between the Seoul-based private equity firm and South Korean conglomerate SK Group.

The first transaction between Hahn & Co. and one of SK affiliates was made in 2017 when the buyout firm bought the offline division of used car retailer SK Encar from SK Holdings. At the time, SK Holdings also sold its entire stake in online used car site SK Encar.com separately to Australia’s Carsales.com, exiting its used car business.

In an auction process for SK Encar, Hahn & Co. battled with Medici Investment, another domestic private equity firm. Medici Investment offered non-price terms that were favorable to the seller, but Hahn & Co. – which offered a much higher price – was ultimately selected as the preferred bidder.

In September 2018, Hahn & Co. bought a 3.5 percent stake in SK D&D, a real estate and renewable energy developer, from SK Gas, along with a 24 percent stake owned by Chey Chang-won, vice president of SK Discovery. With this transaction, the private equity firm became the largest shareholder in SK D&D by owning two more shares than SK Gas.

After the sale of the stake, Chey of SK Discovery – the group's intermediate holding company that has SK Chemicals, SK D&D and SK Gas as its subsidiaries – announced joint-management of SK D&D with Hahn & Co. in a strategic move to increase the company value, signaling a positive relationship between the two parties.

In October 2018, Hahn & Co. acquired a controlling stake in another SK affiliate, SK Shipping, which was heavily hit by the slowdown in the global shipping industry. This marked the end of SK Group’s 36-year history in the shipping business.

Hahn & Co. invested 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) to acquire more than 70 percent stake in SK Shipping through an entity and convertible bond offering. Prior to this deal, the private equity firm founded H-Line Shipping in 2014 after buying bulk carrier units from Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine. With its knowledge in the shipping industry from experience in running H-Line Shipping, Hahn & Co. bet on the shipping company’s ability to recover earnings.

In 2019, the private equity firm also participated in an auction process for SKC Kolon PI, which is a joint venture formed by SKC and Kolon Industries. The joint venture company, however, ended up being sold to Glenwood Private Equity, while Hahn & Co. dropped out of the bidding process.

Many market watchers see Hahn & Co.’s latest acquisition of SK Chemicals’ biofuel business as a sign of the continued strategic partnership between the private equity firm and SK Group.

“Hahn & Company was said to have been in exclusive talks with SK Chemicals to buy the business unit since last year,” said an industry insider. “Given that many of the Hahn & Company’s notable deals have involved affiliates in SK Group, more deals between the two are possible in the future.”

(By reporter Kim Byung-yoon)