Carlyle, MBK on bidders' shortlist for Tesco S.Korea unit-sources (updated)

Hyundai Department Store Co

02/07/2015 06:20

* Private equity firms shortlisted for about $6 bln 
asset-sources 
    * Second-round bids due in mid-August -source 
    * Non-private equity suitor Orion excluded-sources 
 
 (Recasts with independent source) 
    SEOUL/HONG KONG, July 2 (Reuters) - Carlyle Group  CG.O  and 
MBK Partners are among the shortlisted bidders for Tesco PLC's 
 TSCO.L  South Korea business which is valued at about $6 
billion, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on 
Thursday. 
    The sale could be the biggest ever private equity 
acquisition in Asia. Goldman Sachs'  GS.N  private equity arm 
and Affinity Equity Partners were also on the list, the people 
added, declining to be named due to the confidentiality of the 
matter. 
    It was not immediately clear whether KKR & Co  KKR.N , which 
was invited to bid for the business, had progressed to the next 
round. Earlier, the Korea Economic Daily reported only four 
funds - Affinity, Carlyle, Goldman Sachs' private equity arm and 
MBK - had been shortlisted, without mentioning KKR.  
    Bids for the next round are due in mid-August, the sources 
said.   
    Orion Corp  001800.KS , a non-private equity suitor, failed 
to move to the next round, the people added. Hyundai Department 
Store Co Ltd  069960.KS , which had flagged interest in the 
unit, did not bid, a company spokesman said.  
     KKR, MBK, Goldman Sachs, Carlyle and Orion Corp declined to 
comment. A spokesman for Tesco's South Korean unit did not 
respond to repeated requests for comment. 
    Tesco is exploring the sale of its South Korean unit which 
analysts say is its best bet as the British supermarket group 
seeks to cut debt and fund a turnaround plan at home.  
    The group, whose credit rating was cut to "junk" status by 
Moody's and S&P in January, is battling to recover from an 
accounting scandal. It is also struggling to regain the market 
share in Britain it lost to discount chains Aldi and Lidl. 
 
 (Reporting by Joyce Lee in SEOUL; Denny Thomas; and Elzio 
Barreto in HONG KONG; Additiona reporting by Chien Mi Wong at 
IFR/BasisPoint; Editing by Tom Brown and Miral Fahmy) 
 ((jungyoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5609; Reuters 
Messaging: jungyoon.lee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA TESCO/SALE