Oriental Brewery’s USD 900 Million dollars LBO financing deal, for which Lee & Ko was the legal advisor, was chosen as the IFR Asia’s Loan of the Year and South Korea Capital Markets Deal of the Year.
According to IFR Asia awards 2009 magazine, “KKR’s US 1.8 billion dollars buyout of Oriental Brewery – its first investment into South Korea – was riddled with twists and turns and plenty of drama. The USD 900 Million dollars financing backing the acquisition marked the only leveraged financing of significance from Asia in 2009 and overcame extremely challenging conditions in credit markets. It is IFR Asia’s Loan of the Year and South Korea Capital Markets Deal of the Year.” The Award ‘Loan of the Year’ has very significant meaning because only one awardee is selected each year in the region.