MBK Partners revisits sale of Lotte Card

Lotte Card headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Lotte Card

Lotte Card has been put up for sale again after a two-year hiatus.

MBK Partners, Northeast Asia’s largest private equity firm, announced on Tuesday that it selected UBS as the lead adviser for the sale of Lotte Card.

This means MBK has begun the necessary preparations for the resale, although no specific roadmap has been outlined yet. The full-scale sale process is expected to begin in about three to four months at the earliest.

This marks the second attempt by MBK to sell Lotte Card, following an unsuccessful attempt in 2022. At that time, the private equity firm reportedly sought a sale price of over 3 trillion won ($2.1 billion), and the deal fell through.

The credit card company was sold in May 2019 during Lotte Group's transition to a holding company structure.

Due to a government regulation that separates the ownership of financial institutions and non-financial businesses, Lotte Card was sold to a consortium led by MBK and Woori Bank.

The consortium acquired a 79.83 percent stake in Lotte Card for approximately 1.38 trillion won, with MBK holding about 60 percent of the shares and Woori Bank and Lotte Shopping each owning 20 percent.

Lotte Card holds a market share of around 10 percent, ranking fifth in the card payment industry.

“Among the credit card companies likely to be up for sale in the near future, Lotte Card is the only one with a high market share. This could potentially alter the dynamics of the market,” said an industry official familiar with the issue.