- Salomon Smith Barney - Adviser to Carlyleá
- Goldman Sachs - Adviser to Koram Bank
Innovation grows out of adversity. In Carlyle's case there was quite a lot of adversity. This was a deal that almost died on six occasions and faced enormous opposition from the Korean authorities.
Carlyle's acquisition of a 40.5% stake in Koram Bank was a saga to say the least. The process lasted almost a year and would have seen many lesser men than Michael Kim - Carlyle's Asian boss - throw in the towel. The core problem faced by Carlyle was a Korean regulation that said only another bank could buy more than 4% of a healthy Korean bank. Obviously,...
