VIG buys Korea waste-to-energy business
Korean private equity firm VIG Partners has acquired a controlling stake in waste-to-energy (WTE) facility operator BioEnergyFarmAsan for about $100 million.
It marks the fourth investment from VIG’s fourth flagship fund, which closed at about $850 million in late 2019 and makes control investments in mid-market companies with enterprise valuations of $70-500 million. The Fund IV portfolio also includes personal care products maker The Skin Factory, funeral services provider Preed Life, and English language education service D.Share.
Established in 2012, BioEnergyFarmAsan claims to be Korea’s largest private WTE operator, processing 950 tons of liquidized food and livestock waste a day into electricity, biodegradable gas, and liquid or solid fertilizers. The company is said to be benefiting from surging demand for WTE services due to tightening local environmental regulations. It is also a portfolio company of IMM Investment.
VIG has positioned the investment as leveraging trends in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) industry trends and is expected to help the company develop its “green energy town” initiative in the city of Asan. This will involve the creation of a clean energy ecosystem modelled on Juhnde, a renewables-run community in Germany touted as the world’s first bio energy village.
“The company has a sustainable operating model supported by advanced facilities and industry-leading operating capability. It also supports local farm businesses in managing the livestock waste, and as a result, minimizes any potentially adverse environmental impact,” BM Park, a managing partner at VIG, said in a statement.
Recent private equity activity in Korea’s WTE space includes Hana Financial investing about $85 million in a portfolio of projects being developed by Equis Development. The deal includes four facilities that have been scoped to process 470,000 tons of waste a year, which would make the project operator, Vine Enviro, one of the largest WTE players in the country.
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