Shin Geumtu invests 190 billion KRW in acquisition financing for Australian Probe Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] Shinhan Financial Investment has participated in acquisition financing for Probe Group, Australia's leading business process outsourcing (BPO) company. The global private equity (PE) firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) indirectly provided funds to acquire Probe Group.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 23rd, Shinhan Financial Investment executed AUD 220 million, approximately KRW 190 billion, in acquisition financing for Probe Group Holdings, the holding company of Probe Group. This was done by acquiring some of the senior and mezzanine loans from the consortium participating in the acquisition financing of Probe Group. Morgan Stanley and Jefferies Finance are known to have participated in the acquisition financing consortium.

Probe Group is a customer management and consulting service company. It has more than 17,000 employees across four countries and provides various services including process simplification, user experience design, workforce optimization, data analysis, customer psychology analysis, digital distribution, and automation.

KKR is reported to have acquired the company at a price exceeding AUD 1 billion (approximately KRW 860 billion). In this process, it received acquisition financing investment of AUD 550 million (approximately KRW 473 billion) from the consortium. Shinhan Financial Investment acquired about 40% of these loans.

Recently, Shinhan Financial Investment has continued to support acquisition financing for companies acquired by KKR. Last year, Shinhan Financial Investment also participated in refinancing acquisition financing for Innotz Group, Australia's leading confectionery company. The year before last, it expanded its cooperation in the global alternative investment sector by investing USD 200 million in a private equity fund operated jointly with KKR.

Shinhan Financial Investment actively utilizes its Shinhan Bank Global Investment Banking (GIB) desks located in five locations: London, New York, Singapore, Australia, and Tokyo, to expand its global market presence. Since 2017, it has actively discovered local overseas asset managers and participated as an LP (limited partner) in about 20 major asset managers.