MBK Partners to Withdraw from Air Premia Consortium
MBK Partners is exiting the Air Premia consortium that entered the bid for Asiana Airlines' cargo business, and Meritz Securities is joining instead.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 12th, MBK Partners intended to invest 300 billion KRW in the Air Premia consortium through its Special Situation (SS) Fund No. 2 in the form of convertible bonds (CB), but ultimately did not submit a letter of commitment (LOC).
It is reported that this decision was made based on the due diligence results, which indicated that it would be difficult to meet the internal rate of return criteria within the period as a financial investor (FI).
Meritz Securities is said to fill the gap left by MBK Partners directly in the form of a loan.
In addition to Air Premia, low-cost carriers (LCCs) such as Eastar Jet and Air Incheon also participated in the bid for Asiana Airlines' cargo business. The sale of the cargo business is a prerequisite for the corporate merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.
UBS, the lead manager of the sale, is expected to select the preferred bidder soon.
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