IGIS Asset Management Sale "On Track" Despite Heungkuk's Objections

Due Diligence and Executive Meetings Proceed Smoothly
Main Contract Expected as Early as Next Month

The sale of IGIS Asset Management is reportedly proceeding as planned, despite external variables such as the lawsuit filed by Heungkuk Life Insurance. It is expected that as early as next month, the main contract could be signed with Hillhouse Investment, a foreign asset management firm selected as the preferred bidder. The controversy raised by Heungkuk Life Insurance over the "progressive deal" (auction-style bidding) is also not considered a fundamental risk to the contract.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on January 8, the sellers, including Son, the largest shareholder of IGIS Asset Management, and Kim, the shareholders' representative, are in negotiations with Rava Partners, a subsidiary of Hillhouse, with the goal of signing a stock purchase agreement (SPA).

An IB industry source familiar with the transaction stated, "Rava Partners sees the conflict raised by Heungkuk Life Insurance as just one of the risks to be resolved during the acquisition process, and I understand there is no intention to withdraw from the deal itself."

In fact, senior executives from Hillhouse, including Rava Partners CEO Joe Gagnon, have recently been conducting regular eight-week meetings with senior partners and key management of IGIS Asset Management without any disruptions. In addition, Rava Partners has begun a detailed due diligence process on IGIS Asset Management. After approximately two months of due diligence, they are expected to finalize the acquisition structure along with an evaluation of asset soundness.

"Progressive Deal Is a Reasonable Procedure"

Last month, Heungkuk Life Insurance raised objections to the transaction terms and filed a complaint against five individuals, including the sellers and Kim, the head of Morgan Stanley Korea's IB division, who served as the joint lead manager. The allegations were for obstructing a fair bid and fraudulent trading. On November 11, 2025, Heungkuk Life Insurance submitted the highest bid of 1.05 trillion won in the main bidding round. However, they claim that the sellers and the lead manager used this price as a benchmark and induced other bidders, such as Hanwha Life Insurance and Hillhouse, to submit higher offers. They further argue that, although the lead manager had previously stated that an auction-style "progressive deal" would not be used after the main bidding deadline, this method was in fact introduced, thus hindering the bidding process.

However, the market response is that the legal risks are unlikely to serve as a substantial obstacle to the transaction. The "progressive deal" cited by Heungkuk Life Insurance is considered a standard negotiation procedure widely used in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). It is also common practice for bidding proposals or information memoranda not to specify the transaction method in detail. In fact, it is more typical for such documents to include language favorable to the seller, such as "the bidding process may be amended, suspended, or resumed at the seller's discretion," according to industry consensus.

An IB industry source commented, "Unless the contract explicitly states that a progressive deal will not be used, adjustments to the sale price or negotiation of terms are generally permissible. It is difficult to see Heungkuk Life Insurance's objections as a legal issue significant enough to overturn the transaction."

Hillhouse Expected to Expand IGIS's Overseas Business

After the acquisition, Hillhouse plans to actively expand IGIS Asset Management's overseas business. The strategy is to combine IGIS Asset Management's leading domestic real estate sourcing and management capabilities with the global fundraising power of Hillhouse and Rava Partners, as well as the asset securitization expertise of Samty, the Japanese asset manager acquired by Hillhouse.

A real estate asset management industry insider said, "Just as Samty completed the fundraising of a 500 million dollar fund on December 22, 2025, Hillhouse is expected to create a large blind fund to house high-quality assets secured by IGIS Asset Management and actively attract overseas limited partners (LPs) such as GIC of Singapore. IGIS has the potential to evolve from a simple asset manager into a core platform connecting global capital with the Korean real estate market."