[2024 Capital Investment Target] IMM Consortium Achieves Largest M&A This Year with Ecobit Acquisition

Best Award in the 'Deal of the Year' Category

(From left) Song Injun, CEO of IMM Private Equity; Park Chanwoo, CEO of IMM Credit & Solution; Kim Byunghun, Head of Infrastructure Investment Division at IMM Investment

The IMM consortium, including IMM Private Equity (PE), IMM Credit & Solutions (ICS), and IMM Investment, which won the Best Deal of the Year award in the 2024 Asia Capital Investment Awards, has successfully completed the largest merger and acquisition (M&A) deal of the year. The IMM consortium outperformed leading foreign private equity firms such as Carlyle, Keppel Infrastructure, and Geo Capital Partners to acquire Ecobit, the number one comprehensive environmental company in Korea. Through the acquisition of Ecobit, the IMM consortium plans to operate approximately 1,000 sites across the entire environmental business spectrum, including landfill, incineration, water treatment, and recycling.

They plan to provide waste disposal services to a diverse customer base, including large corporations, mid-sized companies, general hospitals, and public institutions. The waste market is an industry characterized by stable growth, high entry barriers, and a persistent supply-demand imbalance due to insufficient supply capacity. In particular, additional demand growth is expected due to regulatory changes. Ecobit holds an overwhelming number one market share in this oligopolistic market and maintains differentiated competitiveness with industry-leading profitability and cash generation capabilities.

The IMM consortium expects the acquired company to solidify its number one position by prioritizing the absorption of additional demand based on market growth after the acquisition. They plan to significantly increase corporate value based on various value creation opportunities identified during the due diligence process. Specifically, they will seek ▲ expansion of processing volume and improvement of operating rates through the acquisition of collection and transportation companies ▲ value enhancement through operational efficiency improvements after acquiring underperforming industrial waste companies ▲ and mid- to long-term additional opportunities in the recycling market. Leveraging their excellent track record in B2B investments such as Airfirst, Taerim Packaging, and Daehan Electric Wire, as well as their know-how in investing in and operating waste companies, they plan to continuously enhance the value of the target company throughout the investment period.