South Korea

Established in 1997, Yulchon is an independent Korean firm with more than 600 professionals and offices in Seoul, Moscow, Shanghai, Yangon, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Jakarta. 

Highlights 

The firm is best known for its M&A work and concomitant expertise in financial distress, hostile M&A and shareholder activism. Its capital markets practice has been gaining traction of late as has its finance, private equity and projects teams. 

The banking team continued to be active in the area of capital markets, securities, structured products, and derivatives-related transactions. The firm regularly advised banks as lenders as well as corporate borrowers on a wide array of banking work involving bank loans, structured finance, finance-linked derivatives for hedging purposes, asset-backed securitisation, real estate finance, acquisition finance, asset finance and project finance. 

In the capital markets, the firm was occupied with securities issuance, block trades, IPOs and overseas ABS, as well as offshore funds activities. 

The corporate team kept busy with complex corporate transactions, restructurings, foreign investments, regulatory matters and legislative support projects. The private equity team was also active providing legal services to all issues in matters affecting private equity or venture capital funds. Notable recent transactions include advising IMM PE and IMM Investment on their purchase of a 100% stake in Ecorbit Corp. for KRW 2.7 trillion, as well as Lotte Group’s divestment of Lotte Rental to Affinity Equity Partners. 

In the projects sector, the firm was active in both conventional and renewable energy projects and particularly active in handling transactions in Southeast Asia. Notable transactions in the past year include providing consultation for the Pątnów Nuclear Power Plant project in Poland and the acquisition of Hanwha Corporation’s wind power and plant business division by Hanwha Ocean. 

The firm expanded its roster by welcoming partners Sang Hoon Jeong, Junghwan Lee, Sung-Jin Kim, Kayoung Kim, Hyerim Kang, So Yeon Yoon, Kwang Jin Lee, and Pil Sang Yoon in the year 2024. 

Key clients 

Key clients include Cactus, Korea Development Bank, Lotte Group, IMM, Woori Financial Group, STIC Investment, Shinsegae Group, Skylake Equity Partners, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and Ocean Winds. 

Testimonials 

"Very pragmatic solutions. Client friendly. Thinking out of the box. Quick turnaround." (Project development client) 

"Yulchon is very dedicated to the work and can always be reached to communicate." (Debt capital markets client) 

"Understanding, experience, knowledge and know-how of financial structures." (Capital markets: structured finance and securitisation client) 

"Maintained frequent communication with the court, ensured successful completion of the deal within a tight timeframe.” (Restructuring client) 

"The quality of legal services provided is very good, with a high level of understanding of the overall deal." (Private equity client)  

"Overall process of pre and post M&A in merger filing, SPA, terms/condition advisory." (M&A client) 

"Experienced work in M&A field in contract terms, merger filing, and legal schedules." (M&A client) 

Jay Son Yang  

"Good in client management." 

Ho Jin Lee  

"High level of understanding of financial structure and fast feedback." 

Gunhee Kim  

"Communicates well and suggests good solutions." 

선경 김  

"Smooth communication with the court." 

호성 송  

"A high level of understanding of the deal and the ability to reach a deal through reasonable negotiations with the other party." 

Jong Kwon Ryoo  

"Good in M&A advisory and SPA/APA completion, and negotiation with seller's lawyer." 

"In-depth knowledge and quick response and quick communication."