“Placed a bold bet”… The identity of the chairman who acquired Fried Life, the top funeral service provider, for 883 billion won

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Woojins, Acquisition of Pre-Life, the Market Leader in the Funeral Service Industry, Confirmed

Woojins Group has decided to acquire Pre-Life, the leading company in Korea's funeral service market, for 883 billion won.

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According to the investment banking industry, Woojins has signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire 99.77% of the shares from VIG Partners, a private equity firm that owns Pre-Life. The agreement specifies that Woojins will first pay a deposit of 88.3 billion won and will settle the remaining balance by the end of next month.

After acquiring exclusive negotiation rights for the acquisition of Pre-Life in February, Woojins completed a thorough due diligence process over approximately five weeks and reached a final agreement with VIG Partners on the acquisition price and key conditions.

Woojins plans to establish a special purpose company (SPC), WJ Life Holdings, and its subsidiary WJ Life for the acquisition of Pre-Life. In this process, Woojins will secure funding by utilizing existing assets, issued perpetual bonds, and financing from the financial sector without any capital increase.

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As of the end of last year, Pre-Life had an advance payment of 2.56 trillion won, significantly larger than its competitors in the second to fourth places, Boram Funeral Services, Kyowon Life, and Daemyung Station.

Woojins plans to develop Pre-Life into a comprehensive lifestyle management platform by linking its subsidiaries' services in education, leisure, beauty, and healthcare. Earlier, Woojins’ subsidiary Coway established Coway Life Solutions last year and entered the market by launching rental funeral service products.

As a result of this transaction, VIG Partners will recover more than four times its investment principal. Since acquiring Pre-Life in 2020, VIG Partners has grown it to its current scale by merging it with other funeral service companies. Considering the sale price and dividends accrued during the acquisition period, VIG Partners' total recovery amount is expected to exceed 1 trillion won.

Image source: Provided by Woojins Group and Pre-Life.

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