TPG to take Lotte Rental private via tender offer

U.S. private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG) has announced plans to acquire the rest of Lotte Rental Co., the top car rental company in South Korea. TPG will carry out a tender offer to secure control of the company, delist it from the Korean stock market, and make it a wholly owned subsidiary.

Lexicon Korea Holdco Inc., a wholly-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV) of TPG, intends to purchase 14 million shares, accounting for 38.83% of Lotte Rental, at a price of 59,000 won ($43.50) per share. The tender offer will be active from Friday until December 3rd, with an estimated value of 831.7 billion won.

In a regulatory filing, Lexicon Korea stated that the tender offer was launched to take full control of the target company and delist it from the Korean stock market. The bidder plans to settle the tender offer in cash on December 7th, purchasing all outstanding shares.

Earlier this month, TPG had acquired a combined 61.2% stake in Lotte Rental for 1.31 trillion won from affiliates of Lotte Group, namely Hotel Lotte and Lotte Hotel Busan. Lotte Group is South Korea's sixth-largest conglomerate by assets.