Korea

Private equity and venture capital news from Korea

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• South Korea’s National Pension Service to pick up Gatwick stake 02 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. South Korea’s National Pension Service is in talks with investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners over the sale of a 12 per cent stake in the UK’s Gatwick airport, according to reports.

• PE firms miss out as Unitas Capital sells Buy The Way to South Korean retailer 25 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Asia-focused buy-out firm Unitas Capital has sold Buy The Way, a South Korean convenience store chain, to local retailer Lotte Group, according to reports. The deal, which may put Lotte Group in a position to challenge market leader FamilyMart, was worth a reported $235m.

• South Korean appeals court clears two of wrongdoing in PE firm bank purchase 29 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Two former South Korean officials have been cleared of helping US private equity firm Lone Star buy shaky local bank Korea Exchange Bank at a discount in 2003, according to the Associated Press.

• Unitas Capital receives bids for Korean convenience store Buy The Way 25 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Asia-focused private equity firm Unitas Capital received nine bids for its portfolio company Buy The Way last week, most over $260m, according to a Reuters report.

• Affinity Equity Partners exits cosmetics company in KRW420bn trade sale 24 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Asian private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners has sold a South Korean cosmetics company, THEFACESHOP, to LG Household for KRW420bn ($363.1m).

• Asian private equity firm Unitas Capital to sell South Korean retail chain 14 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. Asia-focused private equity firm Unitas Capital is looking to sell South Korean convenience store chain Buy the Way, according to the Financial Times. The firm has appointed Deutsche Bank to lead the sale process for the retailer, in a deal that could fetch up to $500m.

• Woori Finance Holdings mulls $300m commitment to Blackstone 07 Sep 2009. Source: AltAssets. Woori Finance Holdings, a South Korean banking and financial services company, is considering a commitment to Blackstone’s sixth global private equity fund, according to reports.

• Ex-CEO of South Korea’s National Pension Service joins Darby Overseas Investments 18 Aug 2009. Source: AltAssets. Former CEO of South Korea’s National Pension Service Ho Shik Kim has joined Darby Overseas Investments, the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments.

• Swiss asset management firm Partners Group to manage secondaries investments for KIC 21 Jul 2009. Source: AltAssets. Partners Group, a Switzerland-based alternative asset manager, has been chosen to look after a private equity secondary mandate by the sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation (KIC).

• Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners closes second fund on $1.6bn 20 Jul 2009. Source: AltAssets. Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners has closed its second fund on $1.6bn, according to reports. The fund had an initial target of up to $3bn.

• KKR sells 50 per cent stake in Oriental Brewery 07 Jul 2009. Source: AltAssets. Global buy-out firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co has sold half of the equity in Oriental Brewery just two months after finalising a $1.8bn takeover deal, according to reports.

• South Korea's sovereign wealth fund to spend extra $1bn on overseas alternative assets 19 Jun 2009. Source: AltAssets. Korea Investment Corporation is set to increase investments in overseas private equity, following the South Korean government’s plans to inject an extra $3bn into the sovereign wealth fund, Reuters reports.

• Korea Development Bank turnaround fund makes first investment 08 Jun 2009. Source: AltAssets. The Korea Development Bank has chosen its first investment from its recently launched turnaround private equity fund. KDB has acquired sewing machine maker Sunstar Precision, according to reports.

• Cooperation deal to increase private equity and infrastructure investment flows between South Korea and MENA region 05 Jun 2009. Source: AltAssets. Abu Dhabi Investment Company, Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Korea Trade Promotion Agency (KOTRA) have signed a cooperation deal to help increase investment flows between South Korea and the Middle East and North Africa region.

• KKR on the lookout for co-investors in Oriental Brewery 04 Jun 2009. Source: AltAssets. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is looking to sell a minority stake in Oriental Brewery just weeks after finalising a $1.8bn takeover of the South Korean company, according to reports.

• Vogo Fund to acquire stake of payment processing company 27 May 2009. Source: AltAssets. Vogo Fund, a South Korean buy-out firm, will buy a 31.7 per cent stake of a credit card processing company from two banks, according to reports.

• KKR teams up with Korea Development Bank for potential private equity fund 27 May 2009. Source: AltAssets. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, the global alternative assets manager, has entered into an investment partnership with the Korea Development Bank, suggesting that the two will set up a private equity fund, according to reports.

• South Korea's National Pension Service to resume international investments 22 May 2009. Source: AltAssets. South Korea's National Pension Service will resume investing overseas next month after suspending foreign investments last year, Reuters reports.

• Korea Development Bank to set up $800m private equity fund 19 May 2009. Source: AltAssets. State-owned Korea Development Bank is to set up a KRW1tr ($800m) private equity fund in order to help troubled South Korean conglomerates compete in the global market, the Korea Times reports.

• KKR affiliate buying South Korean Brewery for $1.8bn 07 May 2009. A subsidiary of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co has finalised a deal to buy Oriental Brewery, South Korea's second largest brewery, from Anheuser-Busch InBev for $1.8bn.

• KKR finalising deal to buy South Korean brewery 05 May 2009. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is tying up a deal to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev NV's South Korean brewer Oriental Brewery for around $1.8bn, according to a report on Reuters.

• South Korean private equity firm STIC achieves IPO of portfolio company 30 Apr 2009. STIC Investments, a South Korean private equity investment group, has exited its position in Vieworks, a digital fluoroscopic solution company, generating an IRR of 90.1 per cent and a multiple of six times in just over two years.

• South Korean private equity fund receives $20m cornerstone investment from government 30 Mar 2009. STIC Investments, a South Korea-focused private equity firm, has been awarded a $20m anchor investment from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy as part of an economic initiative from the South Korean government.