Korean PE fundraising to surpass $7b in 2012
The aggregate amount of private equity funds raised in South Korea this year is set to surpass KRW8 trillion ($7 billion), a record high for the country.
According to the Korean Times, despite shrinking investor confidence and a slowing market, interest in private equity appears to be higher than ever, with the number of funds now numbering more than 50.
Information supplied by the Financial Supervisory Service on December 9 reveals that private equity funds accumulated KRW6.95 trillion between January and October, only slightly lower than the current full-year record of KRW7.27 trillion set in 2010. Given that the statistics don't include funds to be formed in November and December, the 2010 figure is likely to be beaten.
Among the big fundraisers this year was Q Capital, which created a KRW60 billion vehicle - NPS-KT&G Corporate Partnership PEF - to acquire Taihan Fiberoptics and make an equity investment in Taihan Electric Wire. Meanwhile, STIC Investments registered a secondary private equity fund of KRW300 billion, with contributions coming from Korea Teachers Pension Fund and Korea Post.
It has also been a good year for PE deals in South Korea. In the space of two months over the summer, the country saw four of the 12 largest private equity deals executed in Asia by that point in 2012.
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