4 shortlist sites to be completed by the end of this month
The preferred bidder to be decided around the middle of next month
'Final contract' to be signed early next year at the latest
TmaxSoft is accelerating the sale of management rights.
TmaxSoft is aiming to start the due diligence of eligible preliminary takeover candidates (short list) on the 8th and to complete it by the end of this month. The due diligence process usually takes about 5 weeks, but the policy is to shorten it as much as possible, so it is expected that the main bid and preferred bidder will be selected around mid-December.
Hyung-bae Lee, CEO of TmaxSoft, stated on the 7th, "I think the due diligence period is about a month. Internally, we are targeting the end of November." CEO Lee said, “After that, we will conduct a final bid for the due diligence companies and select the preferred bidder.”
TmaxSoft and Samjong KPMG, the manager of the sale, selected Bespin Global, Macquarie Asset Management, MBK Partners, and SkyLake Equity Partners as eligible preliminary acquisition candidates earlier this month. About 10 original buyers flocked to the preliminary bid held on the 28th of last month, showing high interest.
TmaxSoft and Samjong KPMG opened a virtual data room (VDR) for four candidates. VDR is an online platform for due diligence. It collects various documents and contracts related to company management. Internal documents of the company that have not been disclosed can also be viewed.
After the due diligence, the four candidates will present the final acquisition price. After that, the preferred bidder will be selected. Considering the acquisition schedule, the acquisition will be completed early next year at the latest. The target of the sale is a 60.7% stake in management rights, including a 28.9% stake in Tmax Chairman Dae-yeon Park, the founder and the largest shareholder. The prevailing view is that Chairman Park decided to sell his stake to save TmaxData and TmaxA&C, which are affiliates of the Tmax group.
TmaxData is increasing its market share in the domestic database management system (DBMS) market. Annual sales are expected to exceed 30 billion won, with high growth potential. TmaxA&C is in charge of the new food business of Tmax Group, such as operating system (OS) and cloud.
Established in 1997, TmaxSoft has maintained the top position in the domestic market share in the middleware (MW) sector from 2003 to the present. There are about 4,000 companies using TmaxSoft middleware. It is recording about 100 billion won in annual sales in the middleware sector alone.
<Table> Major Progress and Prospects for the Sale of TmaxSoft
By Staff Report Hye-mi Kwon(hyeming@etnews.com)