Paying it Off
Taihan Electric Wire Co. has ended a voluntary agreement after four years when the company signed the agreement with creditors. With this as a momentum, the company plans to jump up to be one of the world's three biggest wire companies.
According to industry sources on Oct. 6, IMM Private Equity (IMM PE), a Korean PE firm that took over Taihan Electric Wire, completely paid off a 300 billion won (US$257 million) capital increase on Sept. 25. Accordingly, NIKE, a special purpose corporation (SPC) established by IMM PE, has become the largest shareholder of Taihan Electric Wire.
Due to excessive business diversification and the global economic recession after the mid-2000s, Taihan Electric Wire asked for joint management by creditor banks in Feb. 2012 on the basis of its voluntary agreement with them. In Aug. 2012, the company signed an agreement with creditors to carry out its management normalization plan.
Since then, Taihan Electric Wire and creditor banks have proceeded with business normalization by selling its holding assets, negotiating with holdout creditors, and clearing away contingent liabilities and project financing projects. After six years of hard work, the company succeeded in putting an end to the voluntary agreement and turning a profit last month.
Taihan Electric Wire held a ceremony on Oct. 6 to celebrate finishing the voluntary agreement and making a new leap, attended by its 300 executives and employees, including its CEO Choi Jin-yong, and 100 officials from IMM PE, creditor banks, and client companies. Choi said, “Based on our financial structure that has become strong now, we will jump up to be a leading wire company in the world and open a new century.”
IMM PE CEO Song In-jun, chairman of the board of directors of Taihan Electric Wire, also announced the vision and the medium and long-term development direction of Taihan Electric Wire. Song said, “With this capital expansion, the company secured a growth engine. We will become one of the global top three companies in the future.”
Taihan Electric Wire plans to strengthen its global competitiveness in the existing core business of ultra-high voltage cables and to expand the investment in core areas that can be its new growth engine, including submarine cables.