SNUbiz News
Conversation with Yi Dong Kim, Head of Samjong KPMG
Written by Student Ambassador Min-seo Jeon (College of Business Administration, Matriculating Year of 2019)
Q1. Congratulations on becoming the youngest head at Samjong KPMG. What are your goals and plans as the Head of the Deal Advisory?
I am hoping to accomplish three main goals.
First, I hope for the firm's healthy growth. I hope that through this growth, our employees can experience professional fulfillment and believe that they can do it. In doing so, I hope our employees can consider KPMG a long-term workplace.
Second, I hope to be respected by our clients. Some of our employees struggle with overwhelming demands and personal insults from clients. I hope we can gain more insight and grow into an organization with a stronger social impact. Through this, I hope our employees can genuinely help our clients and earn their respect.
Third, I want to try new things that have not been attempted in the deal advisory division at an accounting firm. For instance, an accounting firm might be hired to advise on large-scale divestiture consulting cases instead of global investing banking companies. I believe that there has been some progress in this. Furthermore, I hope to establish an Online M&A Platform for small and medium-sized businesses that may find it difficult to approach large accounting firms. I would like to help clients by making it easy for anyone to sign up, get consultations, and find buyers when needed.
Q2. What inspired you to work in the deal advisory division of an accounting firm?
I have always been a sloppy person, and I have never been meticulous. Anyone who knows me well would agree with this. So, I was never confident in accounting and auditing and never considered that to be my forte. Nevertheless, I enjoy meeting people, listening to their stories, and working together to resolve their concerns. I also enjoy learning about new companies and new industries every time and finding myself progressing. In that respect, I enjoy what I do at work. I thank God for that.
Q3. As an M&A expert, why do you find M&A so interesting?
A long time ago, an acquaintance working for a major Korean company made a rather condescending comment about the advisory industry. The comment was that while Korean companies contribute to the national economy by adding to the GDP, accounting firms do little to add actual value. I was concerned with this comment at that time, but I now disagree with it.
Let's take M&A as an example. If Lee Byung-chul, the former chairman of Samsung, had not acquired Anguk Fire & Marine Insurance (the gross capital of which was only 100 million won), we would not have Samsung Financial Networks today, with its 440 trillion won in assets. If SK Group had not acquired Hynix, which was out in the market for a long time, we would not have SK hynix, the leader of today's HBM market.
M&A consulting is fascinating because it contributes to creating events that would not have existed without mergers. You also meet and learn from remarkable people, which makes this sector even more interesting.
Q4. The M&A sector is a competitive market joined by global investment banks (IBs) and Korean trading firms, as well as accounting firms. What are the advantages of an accounting firm in this market?
Each firm has its own strengths. The powerful global networks and brand value would be the core strengths of global IBs. Korean trading firms have the advantage of being able to use their capital and collaborate with other ECMs (including IPOs).
I believe that accounting firms are underrated in terms of their capacity and value. We have as many talented employees as global IBs (about 620 people working in the KPMG Deal Division) who are able to respond to even the most challenging requests from clients. We can also help clients find global investors using the KPMG network. We also offer a comprehensive service per request, as we have tax and consulting divisions. This is why I believe that accounting firms are capable of providing integrated, quality service without excessive fees.
Q5. There has been a recent surge in Samjong KPMG's share in the M&A market. What have you been focusing on as the Head of the Deal Advisory?
In the past, the deal advisory divisions in accounting firms were unable to take on large-scale merger cases. As a result, global IBs took on many M&A deals worth one trillion won, and accounting firms usually took on smaller M&A deals. I wanted to break from the tradition as I was confident that accounting firms were fully capable of taking on bigger deals.
The first time I worked with global IBs was when we were selling a cable TV provider called TBroad to SK Group. We were in charge of the selling, and two global IBs were in charge of buying. As the head of the division, I worked as the project manager, but after working with the global IBs, I came to think that we could do it as well. I then kept trying to take on bigger M&A cases, and I believe that worked.
We have been taking on projects one by one as clients gradually realized how working with KPMG has produced good results. People were initially skeptical, but we have been consistently ranked in the top five in the M&A league tables for two years, surpassing many global IBs.
Q6. What is your most memorable deal?
There is one deal that I have been proud of throughout last year and the year before. The deal concerned LG-Nikko Copper, which was the only copper smelting company in Korea that was created as a joint venture between a Japanese company called Nikko and LG. It's a solid company with an EBITDA of 250 billion won. Now, LS wanted to buy the share of that company from Nikko, but Nikko kept refusing until they said they were willing to sell it two years ago. So, we advised on the acquisition, which was successful.
For LS Group, this is a huge subsidiary, but they have not been able to consolidate it in their consolidated financial statement because it was a joint venture. But now that they can consolidate it, their credit rating and income have improved, and they can now sum up a profit of 250 billion won. It was a win-win situation for both LS Group and Nikko, which made me proud of the deal.
Q7. What is your most memorable experience as an undergraduate student?
I drank, played pool and games, and after coming to my senses, studied for the CPA test and then graduated. What I clearly remember are my friends, who seemed to shine like diamonds.
Yeong-cheol Ko, who was such an eloquent speaker that he became famous as a private tutor in Gangnam; Sang-gi Kim, whose Busan dialect was so fast that it was impossible to understand at first, but which I became used to later so that I became his interpreter; my mentor Ki-hwan Kim, who graduated last of his class in Baemyung High School in Jamsil and initially worked in construction sites when decided to change his life by studying and entering college as a later age; Yeong-geun Kim, who was a heartthrob that looked like the singer Sung-woo Shin; Jeong-taek Kim, an excellent athlete and a talented milk carton kicker; In-su Kim, who understood all the accounting theories and taught us, and many others…
The memories I made with them in my youth have been a great asset to my life.
Q8. Recently, more students who have passed the CPA exam want to work in the deal advisory division. What do students need to prepare to work in deal advisory?
In the past, I was interviewing candidates for new positions when one interviewee asked me, "How can I be like you?" I jokingly answered that your wife might kick you out if you become like me, but then I kept thinking about my answer to the question, "What are the necessary capabilities to grow and succeed in the deal advisory sector?"
I believe it is essential to be curious about people and pose questions, understand, and ultimately love them. Working in deal advisory does not only involve delivering financial knowledge. Instead, it is a comprehensive activity in life that involves understanding, persuading, and sometimes communicating and struggling with clients to find solutions to their problems. I think it is a profession that always requires a personable charm and personality.
Q9. Please share any advice for SNU Business School students.
Tolstoy once wrote, "Live until tonight. At the same time, live in eternity." Life might seem futile as there is an end, but it becomes a source of comfort when you enjoy each day, grow, and live while loving the people around you. I hope the SNU Business School students enjoy this time they spend with their professors and friends to the fullest in this excellent educational environment rather than living in anxiety about the future.
| [Introducing the Interviewee] Yi Dong Kim graduated from the College of Business Administration, Seoul National University, and joined Samjong KPMG in 2000. After working on accounting and auditing in the information and communication industry, he has worked on various deals in the Financial Service Department since 2004. From 2007 to 2011, he also specialized in advising private equity funds at the Samjong Investment Advisory Division. He served as the Head of Deal Advisory V and the M&A Center since 2015 and has been the Head of the Deal Advisory since October 2023. |
Q1. Congratulations on becoming the youngest head at Samjong KPMG. What are your goals and plans as the Head of the Deal Advisory?
I am hoping to accomplish three main goals.
First, I hope for the firm's healthy growth. I hope that through this growth, our employees can experience professional fulfillment and believe that they can do it. In doing so, I hope our employees can consider KPMG a long-term workplace.
Second, I hope to be respected by our clients. Some of our employees struggle with overwhelming demands and personal insults from clients. I hope we can gain more insight and grow into an organization with a stronger social impact. Through this, I hope our employees can genuinely help our clients and earn their respect.
Third, I want to try new things that have not been attempted in the deal advisory division at an accounting firm. For instance, an accounting firm might be hired to advise on large-scale divestiture consulting cases instead of global investing banking companies. I believe that there has been some progress in this. Furthermore, I hope to establish an Online M&A Platform for small and medium-sized businesses that may find it difficult to approach large accounting firms. I would like to help clients by making it easy for anyone to sign up, get consultations, and find buyers when needed.
Q2. What inspired you to work in the deal advisory division of an accounting firm?
I have always been a sloppy person, and I have never been meticulous. Anyone who knows me well would agree with this. So, I was never confident in accounting and auditing and never considered that to be my forte. Nevertheless, I enjoy meeting people, listening to their stories, and working together to resolve their concerns. I also enjoy learning about new companies and new industries every time and finding myself progressing. In that respect, I enjoy what I do at work. I thank God for that.
Q3. As an M&A expert, why do you find M&A so interesting?
A long time ago, an acquaintance working for a major Korean company made a rather condescending comment about the advisory industry. The comment was that while Korean companies contribute to the national economy by adding to the GDP, accounting firms do little to add actual value. I was concerned with this comment at that time, but I now disagree with it.
Let's take M&A as an example. If Lee Byung-chul, the former chairman of Samsung, had not acquired Anguk Fire & Marine Insurance (the gross capital of which was only 100 million won), we would not have Samsung Financial Networks today, with its 440 trillion won in assets. If SK Group had not acquired Hynix, which was out in the market for a long time, we would not have SK hynix, the leader of today's HBM market.
M&A consulting is fascinating because it contributes to creating events that would not have existed without mergers. You also meet and learn from remarkable people, which makes this sector even more interesting.
Q4. The M&A sector is a competitive market joined by global investment banks (IBs) and Korean trading firms, as well as accounting firms. What are the advantages of an accounting firm in this market?
Each firm has its own strengths. The powerful global networks and brand value would be the core strengths of global IBs. Korean trading firms have the advantage of being able to use their capital and collaborate with other ECMs (including IPOs).
I believe that accounting firms are underrated in terms of their capacity and value. We have as many talented employees as global IBs (about 620 people working in the KPMG Deal Division) who are able to respond to even the most challenging requests from clients. We can also help clients find global investors using the KPMG network. We also offer a comprehensive service per request, as we have tax and consulting divisions. This is why I believe that accounting firms are capable of providing integrated, quality service without excessive fees.
Q5. There has been a recent surge in Samjong KPMG's share in the M&A market. What have you been focusing on as the Head of the Deal Advisory?
In the past, the deal advisory divisions in accounting firms were unable to take on large-scale merger cases. As a result, global IBs took on many M&A deals worth one trillion won, and accounting firms usually took on smaller M&A deals. I wanted to break from the tradition as I was confident that accounting firms were fully capable of taking on bigger deals.
The first time I worked with global IBs was when we were selling a cable TV provider called TBroad to SK Group. We were in charge of the selling, and two global IBs were in charge of buying. As the head of the division, I worked as the project manager, but after working with the global IBs, I came to think that we could do it as well. I then kept trying to take on bigger M&A cases, and I believe that worked.
We have been taking on projects one by one as clients gradually realized how working with KPMG has produced good results. People were initially skeptical, but we have been consistently ranked in the top five in the M&A league tables for two years, surpassing many global IBs.
Q6. What is your most memorable deal?
There is one deal that I have been proud of throughout last year and the year before. The deal concerned LG-Nikko Copper, which was the only copper smelting company in Korea that was created as a joint venture between a Japanese company called Nikko and LG. It's a solid company with an EBITDA of 250 billion won. Now, LS wanted to buy the share of that company from Nikko, but Nikko kept refusing until they said they were willing to sell it two years ago. So, we advised on the acquisition, which was successful.
For LS Group, this is a huge subsidiary, but they have not been able to consolidate it in their consolidated financial statement because it was a joint venture. But now that they can consolidate it, their credit rating and income have improved, and they can now sum up a profit of 250 billion won. It was a win-win situation for both LS Group and Nikko, which made me proud of the deal.
Q7. What is your most memorable experience as an undergraduate student?
I drank, played pool and games, and after coming to my senses, studied for the CPA test and then graduated. What I clearly remember are my friends, who seemed to shine like diamonds.
Yeong-cheol Ko, who was such an eloquent speaker that he became famous as a private tutor in Gangnam; Sang-gi Kim, whose Busan dialect was so fast that it was impossible to understand at first, but which I became used to later so that I became his interpreter; my mentor Ki-hwan Kim, who graduated last of his class in Baemyung High School in Jamsil and initially worked in construction sites when decided to change his life by studying and entering college as a later age; Yeong-geun Kim, who was a heartthrob that looked like the singer Sung-woo Shin; Jeong-taek Kim, an excellent athlete and a talented milk carton kicker; In-su Kim, who understood all the accounting theories and taught us, and many others…
The memories I made with them in my youth have been a great asset to my life.
Q8. Recently, more students who have passed the CPA exam want to work in the deal advisory division. What do students need to prepare to work in deal advisory?
In the past, I was interviewing candidates for new positions when one interviewee asked me, "How can I be like you?" I jokingly answered that your wife might kick you out if you become like me, but then I kept thinking about my answer to the question, "What are the necessary capabilities to grow and succeed in the deal advisory sector?"
I believe it is essential to be curious about people and pose questions, understand, and ultimately love them. Working in deal advisory does not only involve delivering financial knowledge. Instead, it is a comprehensive activity in life that involves understanding, persuading, and sometimes communicating and struggling with clients to find solutions to their problems. I think it is a profession that always requires a personable charm and personality.
Q9. Please share any advice for SNU Business School students.
Tolstoy once wrote, "Live until tonight. At the same time, live in eternity." Life might seem futile as there is an end, but it becomes a source of comfort when you enjoy each day, grow, and live while loving the people around you. I hope the SNU Business School students enjoy this time they spend with their professors and friends to the fullest in this excellent educational environment rather than living in anxiety about the future.
