Nashinpyung Maintains Credit Rating for Ebest Securities Following LS Group Inclusion

"No Direct Impact on Credit Rating"

Ebest Investment & Securities Headquarters Building. Photo by Ebest Investment & Securities

Nice Credit Rating announced on the 19th that it will maintain the existing credit rating for Ebest Investment & Securities, whose largest shareholder has changed to LS Networks. Currently, Ebest Investment & Securities holds a corporate commercial paper rating of A2+ and a short-term bond rating of A2+.

The Financial Services Commission approved at its regular meeting the day before a proposal to change the major shareholder of Ebest Investment & Securities from G&A Private Equity Fund (G&A PEF) to LS Networks. LS Networks is the largest investor holding 98.8% of G&A PEF’s shares, and as of June 30 last year, G&A PEF held a 61.71% stake in Ebest Investment & Securities.

With this approval, the entire stake of Ebest Investment & Securities held by G&A PEF will be transferred to LS Networks. LS Networks plans to complete the acquisition of Ebest Investment & Securities shares after undergoing the Fair Trade Commission’s corporate merger review.

Ye-ri Lee, Senior Researcher at the Financial Evaluation 1 Division of Nice Credit Rating’s Financial Evaluation Headquarters, stated, "It is positive that Ebest Investment & Securities is participating as the acquiring company in the underwriting syndicate for LS Materials’ listing, and that the close affiliation with the LS group is expected to increase following the formal incorporation into the LS group." However, she added, "Considering that, as a financial company, there is not a high business correlation with the group’s core businesses and the governance role is limited, the credit dependence between the company and the group is at a moderate level."

She further emphasized, "Since the group’s support capability and the company’s standalone credit rating are close, no notch adjustment will be made in the final credit rating decision process. Therefore, this incorporation into the group has no direct impact on the company’s credit rating."

She continued, "Concerns about the realization of potential non-performing loans in real estate project financing (PF) persist, and interest from financial authorities and the market regarding the vulnerability of internal control systems is increasing. Taking these factors comprehensively into account, credit evaluations will be conducted going forward," she added.