BDA advises SK Group on acquisition of EMC Holdings from Affirma Capital

BDA Partners is pleased to announce that its client, SK E&C (“SK”), has acquired 100% of EMC Holdings (“EMC”) from Affirma Capital, formerly known as Standard Chartered Private Equity. The value of the transaction is not disclosed.

EMC is the premier environmental services provider in Korea, with a portfolio of market-leading businesses in water treatment, incineration, landfill and waste oil refining. EMC is the biggest domestic water treatment O&M service provider in Korea, with 23 years’ operating history at approximately 1,000 sites nationwide. EMC operates four incineration facilities and one landfill site. Affirma acquired Kolon Water & Energy, now renamed EMC, in 2016. Since then, EMC has expanded from water treatment into integrated environmental services. EMC has solidified its position as the leading industry consolidator.

BDA Partners was the exclusive financial advisor to SK E&C on the transaction.

SK Group expects to create synergies, using EMC to treat waste produced by SK Group’s oil refining and chemical units: SK Innovation, SK Chemicals, and SK Incheon Petrochem.

SK E&C stated, “We made every effort to acquire EMC to develop our environmentally-friendly business, to create both economic and social value. We will seek to expand into foreign markets, using our overseas plants.”

Charlie Maynard, Senior Managing Director and Co-founder of BDA Partners, commented, “We advised on the sale of Kolon Water & Energy in 2016. We’ve witnessed Affirma Capital successfully developing the business from a pure water treatment services provider through a number of acquisitions into an integrated environmental services platform. We’re delighted to play a role in the latest step of this journey, by advising SK Group on the purchase of EMC. SK Group is well placed to grow the business further in the future.”

Howard Lee, Managing Director and Head of Seoul at BDA Partners, commented, “BDA has made a meaningful leap forward with SK Group’s acquisition of EMC. In addition, it is personally meaningful as my third transaction with SK Group, after SK Telecom’s acquisition of Hynix for US$2.8bn in 2011, and SK E&S’ sale of its LNG-Coal power plants for US$1bn in 2014.”