Jaewoo Lee is managing partner of Ropes & Gray’s Seoul office and a partner in the firm’s private equity / M&A practice groups. Jaewoo guides sophisticated investors, companies and financial institutions in cross-border private equity and M&A transactions with a connection to Korea. He regularly works with the world’s leading private equity sponsors on their inbound investments, and advises Korean clients on key outbound M&A and other transactions.
Clients seek out Jaewoo for his practical, business-minded advice and tireless commitment to delivering high-quality results. Jaewoo’s perspective is shaped by more than 15 years of experience in Korea-related M&A dealmaking on the ground in Asia. He has been called “one of the best M&A lawyers in the Korean market” and “a remarkable M&A deal attorney” by clients in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific and Chambers Global, respectively. Jaewoo is ranked Band 1 in both Chambers Global and Chambers Asia-Pacific and and is recognized by Asian Legal Business as one of Korea’s Super 30 Lawyers and Dealmakers of Asia.
Experience
- Advised Bain Capital in its acquisition of a majority stake in Classys, a South Korea-based skincare device maker.
- Advised Bain Capital in multiple notable deals, including the Bain consortium’s acquisition and subsequent US$2.6 billion sale of Carver Korea Co., Ltd., and its acquisition and subsequent US$1 billion+ sale of a controlling stake in Hugel Inc., a South Korean biopharmaceutical company.
- Advised TPG Capital in multiple notable deals, including its US$400+ million investment in Kakao Corporation’s transport / taxi app business, Kakao Mobility and its investment in Moleem Corporation, a Korean building materials company.
- Advised E-Mart, Inc. in its US$3 billion acquisition of eBay’s businesses in South Korea and its acquisition of Shafer Vineyards, a U.S. winery.
- Advised Bain Capital Special Situations in its co-investment in the advanced materials business of Hanwha Solutions, alongside Glenwood Credit.
- Advised Bain Capital Credit in its mezzanine loan and warrant investment in INSPIRE Integrated Resort Co., Ltd. as part of a greenfield casino & resort development project in South Korea.
- Advised Bain Capital Credit in its minority investments in K-Bank, South Korea's first online-only bank and Douzone Bizon, a leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) software developer in South Korea.
- Advised Bain Capital Credit in its investment in ST Unitas, a leading Korean edu-tech company.
- Advised KKR in its minority equity investment in Hyundai Global Service, a marine services firm in South Korea.
- Advised Mirae Asset and Naver in their US$150 million investment (through a joint fund, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth PEF) into Grab Holdings Inc., a Singapore-based ride-hailing company.
- Advised Netmarble Games Corporation in its US$ multi-million acquisition of a 100% stake of the Vancouver Studio business of Kabam Inc., a mobile game company headquartered in San Francisco.
- Advised Naver Corporation in multiple cross-border JV transactions, including in its proposed establishment of joint ventures in China for various app services.
- Advised Korea Investment Corporation, Korea’s sovereign wealth fund, in various equity investments worldwide.