Korean law firm Yulchon is advising Seoul-based Honam Petrochemical Corp on its US$1.27bn acquisition bid for a controlling stake in Malaysia’s largest petrochemical maker– Titan Chemicals Corp– one of Korea’s biggest M&A deals this year.
The 72% acquisition of Kuala Lumpur- based Titan is Honam’s first overseas venture and will make it Asia’s second largest petrochemical maker, after Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical.
“To our knowledge, this is the largest outbound M&A deal in Korea so far this year,” David Linton a member of Yulchon's outbound team said.
This statement was backed by Mergermarket– an independent M&A deals intelligence service – which confirmed the Honam-Titan deal to be the largest Korean outbound M&A deal by value this calendar year.
Yulchon is advising Honam on all aspects of the deal, including merger filings for antitrust clearance in multiple relevant jurisdictions.
Yulchon was selected to be Honam’s main outside counsel through a competitive request for proposal (RFP) bidding process.
Yulchon partners Hee Woong Yoon and Tehyok Daniel Yi led the deal and were supported by Jaewon Lee and Kyusang Hwang.
“Honam’s rapid and decisive decision-making process, very unusual for a listed company, were vital for making this deal possible,” lead partner Tehyok Daniel Yi told ALB.
Zaid Ibrahim & Co is the Malaysian legal advisor to Honam, the firm’s cross-border M&A specialist partner Lynette Yeow leading the team.
Zaid Ibrahim & Co previously advised the domestic and international underwriters CIMB Berhad and Goldman Sachs on Titan’s IPO five years ago, the largest IPO in Malaysia 2005.ALB
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