VIG reaches $600m final close on third Korea fund
VIG Partners has closed its third Korea-focused fund at $600 million, with support from new and existing investors including Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS).
The GP, previously known as Vogo Investment, reached a first close of $480 million in October of last year. NPS contributed KRW202 billion ($175 million) to the first close, while a further $70 million came from foreign institutional investors. The LP base features banks, family offices, insurance companies, fund-of-funds, and pension funds from Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
The first investment from Fund III was also announced last October, with VIG acquiring an 84% stake in funeral service provider Jo-Un Life – also known as Good Sangjo – for $56.5 million. It is said to be the first private equity investment in Korea’s funeral services industry.
The fund seeks control positions in Korea-headquartered companies with enterprise values of $50-300 million. Investments are made by a team of 13, led by four partners, Byung Moo Park, Jason Shin, Chulmin Lee and Songwook An.
“VIG focuses on making control investments in sectors with strong and stable growth potential in the increasingly affluent and sophisticated domestic market, such as the consumer sectors that capitalize on the rapidly expanding middle class and aging demographic” said Park in a statement.
VIG closed its debut fund at $573 million in 2005 and then raised a dedicated vehicle to support the purchase of a controlling stake in Tong Yang Life Insurance five years later. The GP had taken a minority stake in 2006 and was granted first refusal on any additional sale above a certain size threshold. Tong Yang Life was exited to Anbang Insurance in 2015 in a KRW1.13 trillion deal.
The private equity firm raised $350 million for its second fund, closing the vehicle in 2014. The first full exit from Fund II came early last year as the Burger King master franchise for Korea was sold to Affinity Equity Partners, generating an approximately 2.5x return. The last investment from the fund - parking management business HiParking – was announced in April 2016.
MVision acted as placement agent for Fund III while Kim & Chang and Debevoise & Plimpton served as fund formation counsel.
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