[THE INVESTOR] Four bidders have been shortlisted to acquire a sizeable stake in Hanwha General Chemical, a former Samsung unit that was acquired by Hanwha Group back in 2015, according to industry sources on Feb. 19.

The bidders include Bain Capital, Korea Investment Partners, IBK Securities and an unidentified global strategic investor.

Up for sale is a 24.1 percent stake that is still owned by Samsung C&T (20.05 percent) and Samsung SDI (4.05 percent). Considering the firm’s valuation at about 4.5 trillion won (US$4.21 billion), the stake value is estimated to range between 1.3 trillion won and 1.5 trillion won.

Despite the high price, it is a lucrative deal. The firm has continued strong growth, while receiving almost 800 billion won dividends from its affiliate Hanwha Total, a joint venture with French chemicals giant Total.

The deal conditions are also favorable. The company should go public by 2022 but if the plans fail, the buyer has the rights to sell stake at a price worth about 11-fold the EBITDA during the year.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)