[THE INVESTOR] Korean private equity firm Hahn & Co. has started the sale process of its beverage company Woongjin Foods, according to industry sources on June 21.

According to sources, the firm and its deal manager Citi Group Global Market Securities will together draw up an Information Memorandum containing detailed figures about Woongjin Foods. The memo will then be sent to major candidates as early as next week. 

Industry watchers say that Hyundai Investment Partners, which reportedly showed interest in Woongjin Foods recently, will be included as one of the major candidates.

The PEF is likely to accept letters of intent from bidders from the end of this month to beginning of July.

Hahn & Co. will be able to sell Woongjin Foods for around 300 billion won, since the price is usually more than 10 times the EBITDA, which was around 26 billion won in 2017, sources said.

The PEF acquired Woongjin Foods from Woongjin Group in 2013 for 115 billion won, when its operating loss was around 1.1 billion won. It managed to turnaround the company the next year.

In 2017, Woongjin Foods’ sales were 223.5 billion won and its operating profit reached 14.2 billion won.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)