PEFs

Pension funds S.Korea’s GEPS to commit $143 million to foreign mid-cap buyout funds

The Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS), one of South Korea’s top three public pension programs, will commit up to 200 billion won ($1...

Mergers & Acquisitions Doosan enters race to acquire SK Siltron in strategic semiconductor push

South Korea’s Doosan Group has entered the bidding war for SK Siltron Co., the world’s third-largest manufacturer of semiconductor wafer...

Korean Investors Former LG man leaves KKR to start PEF

Lim Hyoung-seok, former Vice President of KKR Korea, left the private equity giant’s Seoul office and established his private equity fund (PEF...

Private equity Hong Kong-based PEF Affinity Equity to acquire control of Lotte Rental

Affinity Equity Partners, a Hong Kong-based investment firm, will acquire a controlling stake in South Korea’s No. 1 car rental and leasing co...

Entertainment Controversy brews over HYBE Chair Bang’s investment deal with PEFs

Bang Si-hyuk, founder and chairman of HYBE Co., the South Korean entertainment giant behind K-pop global sensations BTS and NewJeans, is embroiled i...

Mergers & Acquisitions MBK’s Korea Zinc bid aimed at corporate governance, shareholder value

MBK Partners’ takeover bid for Korea Zinc Inc. aims to improve corporate governance and shareholder value at the world’s largest lead an...

Leadership & Management Corporate management disputes spring up in S.Korea

An unprecedentedly high number of South Korean corporations have become targets of unwanted hostile takeover attempts or have been embroiled in mana...

Banking & Finance S.Korea’s LS Group wins regulatory nod for securities biz

South Korea’s electrics components-to-energy conglomerate LS Group is set to start the securities business as it secured regulatory approval t...

Private equity Busan Equity Partners launches core minerals business in Philippines

Busan Equity Partners (BEP), a South Korean private equity firm, is partnering with Philippine mineral development company PGMPI to develop overseas...

Corporate governance SK Ecoplant seeks to establish eco holding firm, sell 40% stake to PEFs

SK Ecoplant Co. is seeking to establish an interim holding firm for its waste management subsidiaries and sell its stake to private equity firms as ...

Private equity KKR to buy Namsan Green Building in Seoul for $186.7 million

KKR & Co. Inc. has agreed to buy Namsan Green Building in a central office district in Seoul for an estimated 250 billion won ($186.7 million).T...

Private equity Growing sense of déjà vu of 2008 global financial crisis

Private equity firms have snapped up South Korean assets over the past two years, driving their valuations near historic highs in the liquidity-driv...

Pre-IPOs Kakao Entertainment’s fundraising plan hits roadblock

Kakao Entertainment Corp., a unit of South Korea’s mobile platform giant Kakao Corp., is struggling to raise money as surging inflation and ri...

Shipping & Shipbuilding Samsung Heavy sells undelivered drillships to PEF

South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries Co. has sold its four undelivered drillships to a domestic private equity fund for a combined 1.04 trillion w...

Batteries SK On to raise $822.5 mn from Korean PEF consortium

South Korea’s SK On Co., the world’s fifth-largest electric vehicle battery maker, is set to raise up to 1 trillion won ($822.5 million)...

M&As LS-Nikko Copper to sell $670 million JV stake to Korean PEFs

LS-Nikko Copper Co., the world’s second-largest electrolytic copper maker, is set to sell an 800 billion won ($670 million) stake in a joint v...

Mergers & Acquisitions Magnachip, Chinese PEF Wise Road end $1.4 bn buyout deal

US-listed chipmaker Magnachip Semiconductor Corp. and Chinese private equity firm Wise Road Capital terminated their $1.4 billion buyout agreement...

Mergers & Acquisitions Shares in Woori Financial draw KT, builder and PEFs

South Korea's telecom giant KT Corp., mid-sized builder Hoban Construction Co. and about 10 private equity firms have submitted letters of intent to...

Mergers & Acquisitions SK E&S' $2 bn share deal draws slew of funding providers

KKR & Co. and three other private equity firms, shortlisted for SK E&S Co.'s new preferred shares worth 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion), are n...

Private equity Private equity exits tipped to lead S.Korea's Q4 M&A market

South Korea's M&A market, which has enjoyed record levels of activity so far this year, is expected to remain buoyant for the remainder of the y...

Private equity Affinity, GIC speed up exit efforts on Kyobo Life

Singapore's GIC, Affinity Equity Partners, Baring Private Equity and IMM Private Equity have taken the next step toward their long-delayed exit from...

Petrochemicals SK holds off indefinitely on petrochem unit stake sale

South Korea's SK Innovation Co. has put on hold indefinitely its plan to sell up to a 49% stake in SK Geocentric Co., formerly known as SK Global Ch...

Private equity GIC, PEFs face further delays to Kyobo exit after ruling

Singapore’s GIC, Canada's Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan (OTPP) and private equity firms, including Affinity Equity Partners, may need to endu...

Private equity Permira targets growth firms in high valuation markets

London-based private equity firm Permira will maintain its focus on high-quality companies and sector leaders with strong growth potential as valuat...

Private equity Now is the time for PEFs to show their art of exit

Leading private equity firms, including Bain Capital, KKR & Co. and MBK Partners, appeared to have turned to an exit mode in South Korea this ye...

Pension funds NPS tilts toward top-tier PEFs during pandemic

The National Pension Service (NPS) has deepened its reliance on top-tier private equity firms during the prolonged pandemic situation, focusing on r...

Mergers & Acquisitions S.Korea's top laundry franchise Cleantopia sold to PEF

South Korea's largest laundry service provider Cleantopia Co. was sold on Tuesday for about 190 billion won ($165 million) to Seoul-based JKL Partne...

Capital raising KKR, IMM PE in bid for SK E&S' $2 bn preferred shares

KKR & Co., IMM Private Equity and Glenwood Private Equity are among the preliminary bidders for 2 trillion won ($1.9 billion) worth of new prefe...

Private equity Mid-sized Korean groups pave way for PEFs' stalled exits

Hoban Group, started as a small residential rental company in Gwangju in 1989, has now emerged as a major player in South Korea's M&A market, in...

Private equity PEFs claim one-third of S.Korea's M&A deals in H1

Private equity firms (PEFs) have participated in one in every three buyout deals involving South Korean companies in the first six months of the yea...