TPG to take Lotte Rental private via tender offer

SEOUL, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) -- U.S. private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) will acquire the remaining shares in South Korea's leading car rental company, Lotte Rental Co., through a tender offer by early next month, the company said Friday.

TPG's wholly owned special purpose vehicle (SPV), Lexicon Korea Holdco Inc., plans to purchase 14 million shares, or a 38.83 percent stake, in Lotte Rental at 59,000 won (US$43.50) per share during the tender offer period from Friday through Dec. 3, according to a regulatory filing.

The tender offer is valued at 831.7 billion won.

"We have launched the tender offer to secure control of the target company, delist it from the Korean stock market and make it a wholly owned subsidiary," Lexicon Korea said in the filing.

The bidder plans to settle the tender offer in cash on Dec. 7, paying for all shares, the filing outlined. KB Securities Co. is advising on the deal.

Last month, TPG acquired a combined 61.2 percent stake in Lotte Rental for 1.31 trillion won from Lotte Group affiliates Hotel Lotte and Lotte Hotel Busan.

Lotte Group, the country's sixth-largest conglomerate by assets, has been selling non-core assets and restructuring its business portfolio amid a prolonged slump in its core chemical business.