MBK, CCMP Capital Picked to Bid for Korea's Himart

Buyout firms CCMP Capital Asia and MBK Partners Ltd. are among the four companies short-listed to bid for South Korean electronics retailer Himart Co., said four people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Investors led by Affinity Equity Partners Ltd. are seeking at least 2 trillion won ($2.2 billion) for Seoul-based Himart, the people said, declining to be identified as talks are private. The group bought it for 787.8 billion won in April 2005, according to Affinity's Web site.

Consumer spending is driving South Korea's longest economic expansion in 15 years, helping retailers increase sales and profits and making them more attractive to potential buyers. Himart, which estimates it has about a quarter of the nation's home appliances market, boosted profit 31 percent last year.

``Assets worth more than $1 billion like Himart don't come to the market often these days in Korea,'' said Seoul-based Peter Ko, head of Korea at H&Q Asia Pacific Ltd. Buyout firms ``have raised a lot of capital which they need to put to work.''

Private equity funds have invested $70.3 billion in the Asia-Pacific region this year, 36 percent more than in the year- earlier period, according to Asian Venture Capital Journal.

Also on the short list are GS Holdings Corp., a Seoul-based company whose operations include an online shopping service and retailer GS Mart Co.; and Eugene Corp., a South Korean builder and maker of concrete. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was hired to sell Himart by Affinity and the company's other owners, Temasek Holdings Pte. and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., the people said.
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