‘3 Trillion Won Valuation’ Medit, GS Consortium's Right of First Refusal Extinguished... What’s Next for M&A?

Medit Sale 'Back to Square One'
KKR, Affinity, and Others in Focus

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] The sale process of Medit, an oral scanner company valued at 3 trillion won and considered a major big deal in this year's M&A market, has returned to square one. The exclusive right to negotiate (ERN) granted to the Carlyle-GS consortium has expired, ushering in a new phase. Attention is focused on which candidates will have the opportunity.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 12th, Citi Global Markets Securities (Citi Securities), the lead manager for Medit's sale, recently decided not to extend the exclusive negotiation rights granted to the Carlyle-GS consortium for acquiring Medit. As a result, the Medit sale process is likely to be prolonged beyond the original plan.

Previously, the GS consortium was selected last month as the preferred bidder for acquiring 100% of Medit's shares. The GS consortium was granted exclusive negotiation status, surpassing other bidders such as KKR who participated in the main bidding.

The ERN is a concept that grants preferential rights to candidates who propose favorable terms. While it does not guarantee becoming the final successful bidder, it generally provides an advantage during negotiations. In Medit's case, it was evaluated that the acquisition had passed the critical 80% mark, but with the consortium holding the ERN effectively abandoning the deal, predicting the direction of the M&A has become difficult.

With the expiration of the ERN, other candidates can now officially enter the Medit deal and start negotiations. In the industry, global private equity fund (PEF) managers such as Carlyle-GS consortium, KKR, Affinity Equity Partners, and TA Associates have been mentioned as strong acquisition candidates for Medit.

Citi Securities is known to be negotiating with the goal of signing a stock purchase agreement (SPA) by mid-November. Because of this, there is speculation that those who previously showed interest may re-enter the Medit acquisition battle.

Medit is a 3D dental oral scanner technology company. It was founded in 2000 by Professor Minho Jang of Korea University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. Unison Capital acquired 50% plus one share of the company for about 320 billion won at the end of 2019.

After joining Unison Capital, Medit embarked on a growth trajectory. It established a global sales organization and aggressively expanded into overseas markets. Following its flagship product ‘i500,’ it launched a new product ‘i700’ last year. It currently holds about the third-largest market share globally in the oral scanner market.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.