[Interview] The Key Player Behind Every K-Beauty M&A Deal: "I Try It Myself Before Deciding"

Boram Lee, First Female Partner in EY Korea's Deals Practice

EY-Parthenon Partner Advises K-beauty Names like ViOL, BYME, Jinious, and IMEEN

“Sustained Performance Is Critical... Monitor Dependence on Specific Ingredients or Products”

Boram Lee, Partner in Strategy and Transaction Advisory at EY-Parthenon, is one of the first female partners in the deals practice at EY Korea. She provides advisory services based on empathy and meticulousness for major private equity funds (PEFs) such as VIG Partners and Premier Partners, executing high-profile K-beauty company transactions. She demonstrates passion by personally using the products of the companies she advises during financial due diligence, thoughtfully considering their growth potential. In an interview on August 27, 2026, at the EY Korea headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Lee, as an expert familiar with various K-beauty companies, selected “sustainability” as the most important factor when advising K-beauty firms.

Eboram Lee, Partner at EY-Parthenon, poses for an interview with The Asia Business Daily at the Yeouido office in Seoul. August 27, 2026. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Lee is a K-beauty specialist who has led financial due diligence and valuation, as well as M&A advisory, for numerous companies such as VIG Partners’ ViOL, Premier Partners’ BYME, SG PE’s Jinious, and IMM Investment’s IMEEN. Among the many deals, she cites the public tender offer for ViOL, which she managed last year, as the most memorable. “That deal involved a long process, from making cold calls to closing, over the course of 9 to 10 months,” she said. “It was especially memorable because public tender offers like this are not commonly seen in Korea.”

Last year, VIG Partners acquired ViOL, a KOSDAQ-listed aesthetic medical device company, and then initiated a public tender offer to delist the company. In June of last year, VIG Partners announced the establishment of a special purpose company (SPC), Vienna Investment Purpose Company, and declared a public tender to acquire between 12,125,998 and 37,438,265 shares of ViOL common stock at KRW 12,500 per share. Ultimately, they secured more than 95% of the shares, meeting the requirement for voluntary delisting and achieving their goal.

During this deal, Lee coordinated with major shareholders and sellers, supporting negotiations of sale terms and shareholder agreements between buyer and seller sides. As the company was publicly listed, confidentiality around the tender offer itself was of utmost importance. Lee stated, “Even the rumor of a public tender offer for a listed company could be interpreted by the market as an intention to acquire shares at a premium to the current price. For the acquirer, they need to deliver returns to their limited partners (LPs), but if the share price increases, the investment return inevitably shrinks, so confidentiality is extremely crucial.”

Eboram Lee, Partner at EY-Parthenon, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the Seoul Yeouido office building. 2026.8.27 Photo by Hyunmin Kim

There were also tense moments arising from the need for confidentiality. Due to differences in the disclosure times by stakeholders, ViOL’s share price rose above the tender offer price for about one hour at the beginning of the public tender offer. Because disclosure timing was not aligned, some investors who were unaware of the public tender announcement observed the rising share price early in the session and likely increased their purchase volume, anticipating positive news. Lee said, “It was a nerve-wracking memory to recall. I quickly communicated with companies that had delayed disclosure to expedite their process and resolved the situation.” She added, “Despite the sensitivities of this deal, except for this issue, everything went smoothly, making it a great deal overall.”

She also handled financial due diligence and valuation when Premier Partners was acquiring BYME, a medical aesthetics company, in 2023. Currently, BYME is searching for a buyer, and the company’s value is cited to be as high as 2 trillion won. During the due diligence, Lee was able to foresee BYME’s growth potential. “During our onsite interviews at the factory, the company’s explanation that, while other products inject substances for skin improvement, their flagship Juvlook helps the skin generate collagen on its own, stood out as an advantage,” she said. “I actually received the treatment during the project and thought, from a consumer perspective, that the company had considerable growth potential.”

Premier Partners was known to have acquired a 76% stake in BYME in 2023 for 80 billion won. After this acquisition, BYME’s revenue increased from 19.35 billion won in 2023 to 126.18 billion won last year, while operating profit rose from 10.35 billion won to 80.35 billion won.

Buram Lee, partner at EY-Parthenon, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the Seoul Yeouido office building. 2026.8.27 Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Recently, with the Korean Wave gaining global traction, K-beauty has been on the rise and advisory work on related deals is increasing. Lee stated that, given K-beauty’s sensitivity to changing trends, advisors inevitably have to consider sustainability even if current performance is strong. “I look into whether product quality is sound, whether there is sufficient quality control in cases involving OEM (original equipment manufacturing) or ODM (original design manufacturing), and whether the company has an R&D lab,” she said. “Another key consideration is whether the company is highly dependent on certain trending ingredients or products.” She emphasized, “The steady popularity of K-beauty is leading to a continued rise in the number of deals.”

Meanwhile, EY-Parthenon, where Lee serves as a partner, is a dedicated Strategy and Transactions (SaT) advisory brand under EY Korea. With both the financial advisory headquarters for deals and the strategy consulting team in one organization, EY-Parthenon generates strong synergy in transaction advisory work.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.