Korea’s Anchor Equity closes debut fund at $500m
Anchor Equity Partners has reached a final close on its debut South Korea-focused fund at the hard cap of $500 million. The firm – set up last year by a group that spun out from Goldman Sachs’ private equity unit – targets buyout, growth capital and industry consolidation opportunities.
A regulatory filing from early September indicated that Anchor Equity Partners Fund I had passed the $400 million mark. The final close came earlier this week, according to a source familiar with the situation. AVCJ separately understands that two Asian fund-of-funds are among the cornerstone investors.
Private equity investors have deployed $6.9 billion in Korea so far this year, compared to $7.4 billion for 2012 as a whole, AVCJ Research data show. Buyouts account for $3.7 billion of the 2013 total, up 56% on the previous year. This puts Korea ahead of Japan and trailing only Australia in the regional buyout rankings.
Transactions include MBK Partners' agreement to buy ING's Korea life insurance business in a deal worth approximately $1.65 billion, Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia's (MSPEA) acquisition of Ssangyong C&B and Monalisa for $180 million, and Affinity Equity Partners' purchase of majority stake in Loen Entertainment for $236 million.
AVCJ reported last week that MBK had closed its third buyout fund at the hard cap of $2.7 billion. While the firm invests across North Asia, South Korea features prominently in its deal flow.
MBK was set up in 2005 by Michael B. Kim who was previously president of Carlyle Asia. In the last few years further spin-outs have formed a few Korea-only GPs, led by executives with experience of working with foreign institutional investors as well as deploying capital domestically.
In addition to Anchor, Scott Hahn departed MSPEA to set up Hahn & Co. in 2010 and closed his debut fund at $750 million the following year. When AIG sold off its private equity business, by then known as PineBridge Investments, the Korea team decided to spin out and form Joshua Tree. The group is understood to be raising a mid-cap growth fund of around $350 million.
More on Fundraising
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.