JoongAng Group to Securitize 550 Billion Won in Commercial Real Estate Assets

Koramco Selected as Preferred Negotiation Partner
Final Transaction Targeted for Completion by End of August

On May 21, JoongAng Group announced that it has selected Koramco REITs Management & Trust as the preferred bidder for the securitization of its real estate assets to enhance its financial structure.

JTBC Building.

The assets for sale include three properties: the JoongAng Ilbo Building and the JTBC Building located in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, as well as the Ilsan Studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. The total transaction value is estimated at around 550 billion won.

The sale will be carried out through a sale-and-leaseback method. Even after the sale, JoongAng Ilbo and JTBC will continue to lease the assets on long-term contracts for 10 years. This ensures that business bases and newspaper/broadcast production infrastructure will remain unchanged.

Once the transaction is completed, the financial structure is expected to improve with a large inflow of cash. The proceeds from the sale will be used to repay borrowings, thereby reducing the total amount of debt and increasing flexibility in capital management.

A JoongAng Group representative stated, "Amid increasingly challenging domestic and international media business conditions, this is a proactive and preemptive decision to maximize flexibility in capital management. Through the sale-and-leaseback, we can secure the core infrastructure for newspaper and broadcast production, which are our main businesses."

Koramco has extensive experience with real estate investment trusts (REITs) involving large corporate assets. Recently, the company established a REIT worth approximately 580 billion won, using major business sites of Hyundai Motor Company nationwide as underlying assets.

The two companies will begin asset due diligence and negotiations on detailed terms, starting with the signing of a memorandum of understanding. They aim to complete the final transaction by the end of August.

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