Recent Developments

On April 30, 2025, JKL Credit Investment (“JKL”) entered into a subscription agreement to acquire newly issued shares in Pluglink, a company engaged in the electric vehicle charging business. The investment, valued at approximately KRW 45 billion, was made through an SPC established by a private equity fund managed by JKL. Upon completion of the subscription, JKL acquired approximately 39.25% of Pluglink’s shares on a fully diluted basis, thereby becoming its largest shareholder. The transaction successfully closed on May 28, 2025.

This transaction represents the largest-ever investment in a domestic electric vehicle charging operator. Pluglink used part of the proceeds to acquire the electric vehicle charging business of Hanwha Solutions.

Lee & Ko acted as legal counsel to JKL, providing end-to-end legal support for the transaction, including legal due diligence on Pluglink, advice on the subscription agreement, and merger control filing. Notably, Lee & Ko played a key role in facilitating the successful signing and closing by efficiently restructuring Pluglink’s complex network of existing investor relationships.
 

Lee & Ko successfully advised H&Q Equity Partners (“H&Q”) on its acquisition of TNF Holdings, a company engaged in the manufacturing of automotive electronic components. The total purchase price for the transaction was approximately KRW 162 billion.

The transaction was structured as an equity investment by Tenerife Holdings LLC, an SPC established using dry powder from KHQ No. 4 PEF, a blind fund formed and managed by H&Q, with a portion of the acquisition funding sourced through acquisition financing. Through this transaction, H&Q acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of TNF Holdings.

Lee & Ko provided comprehensive legal services throughout all phases of the transaction, including legal due diligence on TNF Holdings, review of W&I insurance, advice on acquisition financing, incorporation of the SPC and regulatory filings related to the PEF, negotiation and execution of the share purchase agreement and shareholders’ agreement, merger control filing, and closing. Despite the complex legal and procedural issues involved, Lee & Ko’s support contributed to the successful and expeditious consummation of the transaction.
 

Lee & Ko acted as legal counsel to Astra Asset Management (“Astra”) in connection with its acquisition of equity interests in KC. The transaction was structured as a secondary acquisition of 100,000 shares (representing 100% of the outstanding common shares, excluding treasury shares) in KC from four individual shareholders. The acquisition was carried out jointly by (i) an SPC established by an investment trust-type private equity fund formed and managed by Astra (as a general partner), and (ii) a fund managed by UAMCO (IBK–UAMCO SME Growth Fund). The aggregate purchase price for the transaction was KRW 170.5 billion. The transaction successfully closed on February 21, 2025.

This transaction represents a rare example of a buyout investment executed by a private equity fund in Korea. Lee & Ko provided comprehensive legal support throughout all stages of the transaction, including structuring, legal due diligence on KC, fund formation and capital contribution approval, review of W&I insurance, acquisition financing, and negotiation and execution of the share purchase agreement and shareholders’ agreement; by navigating various complex legal and regulatory issues, Lee & Ko contributed meaningfully to the successful closing of the transaction.

KC is a global top-tier manufacturer of marine and offshore equipment, holding over 75% market share in Korea and more than 30% globally. Following the acquisition, Astra plans to enhance management efficiency and pursue further value creation with a target initial public offering (IPO) in 2026.
 

Lee & Ko provided legal advice for a transaction (the "Transaction") involving the sale of all shares issued by Koryo Nobel Explosives Co., Ltd. (the "Target Company"), held by KNE Holdings Co., Ltd., an SPC managed by Eum Private Equity Co., Ltd. as its general partner.

On November 8, 2024, KNE Holdings Co., Ltd. entered into a share purchase agreement with Kiwoom Private Equity Inc., under which all shares issued by the Target Company were sold to Kiwoom Private Equity Inc. for KRW 217.3 billion. Kiwoom Private Equity Inc. established a fund to consummate the Transaction.

Lee & Ko has been advising Eum Private Equity Co., Ltd., the seller, since its acquisition of the Target Company. For the Transaction, Lee & Ko provided comprehensive legal services for the seller, including reviewing the transaction structure, responding to the buyer's due diligence, and negotiating and executing the share purchase agreement, contributing to the successful closing of the Transaction.

On October 20, 2023, Lee & Ko successfully represented Brain Asset Management Co., Ltd. and KY Private Equity Co., Ltd. in their acquisition of approximately 9.21% of the preferred shares of SK Pharmteco Inc., originally a wholly-owned subsidiary of SK Inc. prior to the acquisition, based in Delaware, USA (the “Target”) through (i) Opus 1st Inc., a special purpose company established by an institutional PEF with Brain Asset Management and Korea Development Bank as its general partners, (ii) Brain SP Generalized Private Investment Trust No. 45 and Brain SP Generalized Private Investment Trust No. 46, each an investment trust established and managed by Brain Asset Management, and (iii) Opus 4th Inc., a special purpose company established by institutional PEFs with KY Private Equity as their general partner ((i) through (iii) collectively, the “Investors”) (collectively, this “Transaction”). 

This Transaction was a pre-IPO transaction in anticipation of a public listing of the Target shares on the Nasdaq market, and aside from the high deal value of USD 300,210,071 as the aggregate purchase price, the deal structure itself was quite complicated as it involved issues such as the establishment of multiple investment trusts and special purpose companies as investment vehicles. This Transaction also involved the execution of a shareholders agreement to coordinate the commercial understandings between the Investors and SK Inc., the original shareholder, and there were further complex issues to be resolved in light of the regulations and procedures under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, the Monopoly Regulations and Fair Trade Act and the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, as well as tax issues both in and out of Korea and antitrust filing issues in the US and EU. Despite these complexities, Lee & Ko was able to provide effective advice to reach a successful consummation of this Transaction within a short period of time. Lee & Ko was involved in the Transaction and served as transaction counsel in all aspects of this Transaction, from the selection of preferred bidders at the auction stage through the review of transaction structure, establishment of PEFs and special purpose companies, foreign exchange report filings, tax review, antitrust filing review, preparation/negotiation of the share subscription agreement and shareholders agreement, execution and closing.

Je Won Lee, Kyung Gyoon Park, Beum Rae Kim, Woo Young Choi, Hana Choi, Seonghwan Ju, Kyung Won Han, Chang U Jeong, Sua Jeong

Lee & Ko advised on the transaction of STIC MUSE Limited (“STIC MUSE”), an investment purpose company established through a PEF by STIC Investments, Inc. (“STIC”), in its investment in Musiccow, Inc. (the “Target Company” or “Musiccow”). The Target Company operates a music copyright (copyright fee participation claim) investment platform. The transaction was executed by an acquisition of convertible bonds with a face value of KRW 100 billion that was issued by Musiccow.
As the transaction involved a company that operates a platform that allows ordinary investors to invest in profits generated from copyrights, there were various legal issues associated with the transaction. In particular, a key legal issue centered on whether the right to participate in the proceeds from copyrights is considered securities under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act of Korea.
While advising STIC in several legal matters, Lee & Ko analyzed the potential risks associated with the purchase of the Target Company and proposed alternatives to cure them; moreover, the Target Company is currently improving its protection of the participants in its operation according to Lee & Ko’s advice.
Financial supervisory authorities are paying close attention to fractional investments, as fractional investing in various types of assets (including real properties) is gaining keen public interest. Thus, amid such public attention, this Transaction was an exemplary case that demonstrated the expertise of Lee & Ko’s private equity team, which successfully led to the investment in the leading player in the fractional investment platform.

Lee & Ko successfully advised Neosapiens Inc., a domestic startup operating AI-based voice synthesis solutions and AI voice service (typecast), with respect to five investors, including BRV LOTUS FUND III, L.P., in their investment of redeemable convertible preferred stocks for a total of KRW 25.6 Billion Korean Won.
 
Lee & Ko provided comprehensive advice in reviewing the transaction structure, preparing and negotiating share subscription agreement and shareholders agreement which contributed to the successful signing on January 28, 2022 and closing on February 10, 2022.

Lee & Ko provided legal advice to Affirma Capital on acquisition of Series B CCPS (convertible cumulative preference shares) and Convertible Bonds of Beam Mobility Holdings. Beam Mobility Holdings operates scooter rental businesses in Korea, Singapore, Australia, etc. and Affirma Capital acquired approximately 10% of the total issued shares of Beam Holdings (approximately 21% if exercise conversion) with a subscription price of USD 75,000,000.
 
As the Korean counsel of Affirma Capital, Lee & Ko, in collaboration with Hogal Lovells Singapore, advised Affirma Capital throughout the entire process, from conducting legal due diligence to the foreign exchange reports regarding this transaction.

Lee & Ko advised CF Investment in its acquisition of 100% shares in Logen Co., Ltd. for an aggregate subscription price of KRW 340 billion. The Share Subscription Agreement was executed on July 9, 2021.

Lee & Ko provided timely and effective advice to CF Investment on all aspects of the transaction, including deal structuring, due diligence, negotiation, and preparation of the transaction documents which led to a successful closing on October 8, 2021.