Coway, Korea’s first water purifier maker that has returned to its founder Woongjin Group after six years, will start anew under new nameplate Woongjin Coway.

Woonjin Group said Wednesday that it will rename Coway as Woonjin Coway upon completing the re-acquisition process of the water purifier maker. Founded in 1989, Coway is the pioneer in the Korean water purifier manufacturing and rental industries. Woonjin Group sold the company to local private equity fund MBK Partners in 2013 to weather liquidity stress, but it recently bought back a 22.17 percent stake in Coway through its education service unit Woongjin ThinkBig and its consortium partner STIC Investment PEF at the price of 1.68 trillion won ($1.49 billion). The deal is to be completed on Friday.

Woongjin Group hopes to grow the water purifier maker bigger and stronger by expanding its product lineups. Also, it plans to release a comprehensive loyalty program to create synergy with its mainstay unit Woongjin ThinkBig. The education service unit is estimated to have 600,000 clients with children aged under 13 who can be potential customers in the future.

To strengthen its control over Woongjin Coway, the group plans to raise 300 billion won to acquire additional stakes in the water purifier maker by Sep. 25 this year. It needs to raise its stake in the water purifier maker to more than 30 percent to meet holding entity regulations.

The group appointed Ahn Ji-yong, head of Woongjin Group’s planning and coordination team, as Woongjin Coway’s new chief financial officer.

By Jin Young-tae and Cho Jeehyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]