(LEAD) LG Household shares hit record on rival takeover

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES closing stock price in para 2; ADDS details in para 3-5)
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) -- Shares of LG Household & Health Care Ltd., South
Korea's No. 2 cosmetics-maker, soared to a record high Wednesday, a day after
saying it will take over a smaller rival.

LG Household closed at 283,000 won (US$244.9) on the Seoul main bourse, up 5.2
percent from Tuesday, far outperforming the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price
Index (KOSPI) that inched up 0.34 percent.
LG Household said Tuesday it sealed a deal to purchase a 90 percent stake in
TheFaceShop Korea Co., the No. 3 market player specializing in low-price
cosmetics, for 420 billion won.
LG Household said it will buy a 70.2 percent stake from Shepherd Detacherign
B.V., an affiliate of Hong Kong-based private equity fund Affinity Equity
Partners, and the remainder from the founder of TheFaceShop.
LG Household said the acquisition is designed to boost its market competitiveness
and will be implemented on Jan. 31 next year.
"With the purchase of TheFaceShop, sales of LG Household are expected to increase
16.2 percent to 1.96 trillion won in 2010," Lee Jung-in, an analyst at Korea
Investment & Securities Co. said in a report.
Lee said the acquisition price is appropriate, reaffirming the price target for
LG Household at 330,000 won.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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