PEF can be catalyst for corporate revamp: U.S. financier

By Park Bo-ram
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- The chairman of a U.S. buyout firm said Friday private
equity firms (PEF) can be the most flexible tool for corporate restructuring in
South Korea.
"Private equity is a catalyst for constructive change," said Chairman Joseph Rice
of Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Inc. The U.S. firm is widely known for its purchase
of the typewriter unit Lexmark from IBM.
Rice said there is a tremendous amount of misperception about private equity
firms in the U.S., as well as Korea, since a leveraged buyout boom in the U.S. in
the 1980s shed light on corporate greed.
Despite not having as "good a reputation as we'd like to see it have," private
equity can be the most flexible tool in corporate restructuring in South Korea,
considering its critical role in the U.S. corporate revamp in the 1980s, he said
during an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Seoul.
The remarks came as the country's financial watchdog, the Financial Services
Commission (FSC), mulls easing regulations for private equity funds to engage in
corporate restructuring.
The FSC supervisor said earlier in the day his commission is considering allowing
them to buy assets, including bad debts, as the country is aiming for sweeping
corporate revamps to prevent a wave of corporate failures.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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