ICG invests in Korean tutoring business

The transaction comprises senior mezzanine, junior mezzanine and minority equity. A portion of the capital comes from ICG Asia Pacific Fund III, a mezzanine-focused vehicle that is said to be targeting around $1 billion.

South Korean private equity firm Tstone Corp. purchased Time in 2008 and supported efforts to consolidate the industry through a number of bolt-on acquisitions. AVCJ understand that it still holds a stake in the business, with ICG's investment to be used as growth capital.

Time operates a network of 84 tutoring centers as well as 205 franchisees and a complementary education content business. It works with an average of 26,300 students every month. The new capital will be used to support expansion and market consolidation, with CEO Dongjin Lee eyeing expansion overseas as well as domestic growth.

"Time is a leading company in its specialist area of tutoring services, and for our Asia Pacific Fund III this is a strong ‘defensive' business to join the portfolio that we are building," Chris Heine, managing director of ICG Asia, said in a statement. "ICG was able to provide Time with a bespoke capital solution to fund the entire transaction in a short period of time and we look forward to working with the company in the future to maintain and grow its leading position."

ICG had EUR14.9 billion ($16.7 billion) in assets under management globally as of January 2015. It specializes in providing private debt solutions, investing across the capital structure.

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• Topics
• Mezzanine
• North Asia
• Expansion
• South Korea
• Mezzanine
• Growth capital
• Education
• Intermediate Capital Asia Pacific