Lee & Ko acted as Korean counsel to the lenders (including JPMorgan Chase Bank, Nomura, HSBC, SMBC, Standard Chartered, Calyon, Hana Bank, Korea Development Bank and Korea Exchange Bank) in respect of leveraged-buyout financing for the acquisition of Oriental Brewery Co., Ltd. (which is the second largest brewer in South Korea by market share).
This deal is significant in that it marks the first investment in Korea by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co with the leveraged financing in Korean Won tranche (as loan) and US Dollar tranche (as FRNs). Further, this deal utilized a security trustee scheme (for underlying asset (i.e., real estate)) under Korean law which was the first such use in an LBO financing of this type. The deal closed in September 2009 with the value of approximately USD 800,000,000.