Taekwang Group has teamed with TPG to acquire K Shipbuilding Co., testing whether the South Korean conglomerate can return to the deal table after largely retreating from major acquisitions over the past two decades.
The partnership makes Taekwang-TPG among the leading bidders for the shipyard, which private equity owners KHI Investment and UAMCO are selling for around 500 billion won ($340 million). PwC Korea is managing the sale, with sellers aiming to select a preferred buyer by year-end.
K Shipbuilding, formerly STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co., was once the world’s fourth-largest shipbuilder before collapsing after the 2008 financial crisis and entering court receivership in 2016. The KHI-UAMCO consortium acquired it for 250 billion won in 2022 when the yard was losing money and struggling against Chinese competition in tanker construction.
The shipyard has since staged a recovery. K Shipbuilding posted an operating profit of 11.2 billion won last year after 14 years of losses, with 2025 revenue forecast to exceed 1 trillion won for the first time since 2019.
Taekwang has been attempting to diversify beyond its core chemicals and textiles operations. The group recently agreed to acquire cosmetics maker Aekyung Industrial Co. for 470 billion won ($331 million), betting consumer products can offset declines in its traditional businesses.
The K Shipbuilding sale comes as South Korean yards benefit from Chinese rivals pulling back due to US-China trade tensions. However, sellers are reportedly excluding foreign private equity bidders, viewing the shipbuilder as strategically important.
