Hwawoo Recruits 'Big Deal Makers' Lee Jinguk and Yoon Soyeon as Attorneys

Strengthening Competitiveness in M&A and Corporate Advisory

On August 4, law firm Hwawoo announced that it has recruited attorney Lee Jinguk (30th class of Judicial Research and Training Institute), an expert in domestic and international M&A and capital markets, as well as attorney Yoon Soyeon (1st class of the Bar Examination).

Attorney JinGuk Lee (left) and Attorney SoYeon Yoon. Law Firm Hwawoo

Attorney Lee Jinguk is a strategic dealmaker who has successfully executed a wide range of major transactions in the domestic and international M&A and capital markets for over 20 years. After graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in law in 1997, he joined Yulchon in 2004 and served as a core member of the M&A team at the C&F Group for more than 20 years.

He has successfully advised on significant M&A transactions such as the sale of Lotte Group's Lotte Rental, Hanwha Group's acquisitions of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (now Hanwha Ocean) and HDS Engine (now Hanwha Engine), Naver's acquisition of US-based Poshmark, the sale of management rights of Baedal Minjok, and Lotte Group's acquisition of Ministop. In addition to M&A deals, he has also played a key role in major IPO advisory projects including SK IE Technology IPO, Lotte Shopping REITs IPO, Hyundai Autoever IPO, and Hanwha Systems IPO.

Attorney Yoon Soyeon graduated second in her class from Seoul National University Law School in 2012 and has provided M&A and corporate governance advisory services at Yulchon for over 10 years. She has played a central role in projects such as the comprehensive stock swap between Hanwha Galleria and Timeworld, the establishment of KT Group's media content holding company, Hillhouse Capital's investment in Market Kurly, the sale of Lotte Capital's stake, MBK Partners' acquisition of Homeplus, and the SK IE Technology IPO.

Through these new hires, Hwawoo plans to strengthen its all-round response system to keep pace with the increasingly complex corporate environment and M&A landscape brought about by the new government's amendments to the Commercial Act, and to maximize its competitiveness in corporate advisory services. Managing partner Lee Myungsoo stated, "To meet the needs of clients across various industries and complex transaction structures, it is essential to have professionals with differentiated experience and client-centered strategic thinking," adding, "Based on our 'client-centric' philosophy, Hwawoo will continue to strengthen talent recruitment until our corporate advisory practice is firmly established as a top-tier firm in Korea."