South Korea
SC Lowy, Yuil PE buy Korea’s Shinmin Mutual Savings Bank
Hong Kong-based investing and trading firm SC Lowy has teamed up with a South Korean private equity fund known as Yuil PE to buy Shinmin Savings Bank. The institution’s name will change to Choeun Mutual Savings Bank.
KKR, Affinity exit Oriental Brewery to AB InBev for $5.8b
KKR and Affinity Equity Partners have agreed to sell South Korea’s Oriental Brewery to Anheuser-Busch InBev for $5.8 billion. The money multiple is more than 5x, sources close to the deal said.
Tyco shortlists PE firms for Korean unit - report
KKR, Bain Capital, IMM Private Equity and The Carlyle Group are reportedly among those shortlisted by US security specialist Tyco International as potential buyers for its South Korean unit - ADT Caps - in deal worth as much as $1.4 billion.
IMM to support T-Broad in cable TV battle
Thanks to the rapid emergence of internet protocol TV (IPTV), South Korea’s cable TV operators are expected to broadcast across the country regardless of regulatory hurdles.
4Q analysis: IPO awakening
Public market offerings return, or at least expectations of them; pan-regional players shore up weak fundraising market; growth deals to the fore as buyouts recede
Korea sovereign fund's CIO resigns
Dong-Ik Lee, the CIO of Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), has resigned. This comes less than three months after Chong-Suk Choi, president and CEO of the sovereign wealth fund, resigned for personal reasons.
Hahn & Co agrees $380m Hanjin deal
Of the four leading Korean dry bulk carriers, Hanjin Shipping and Hyundai Merchant Marine are raising capital through asset sales and restructurings, while STX Pan Ocean and Korea Line have already filed for bankruptcy.
IMM PE invests $190m in Korean cable TV operator T-Broad
IMM Private Equity has acquired an approximately 21% stake in T-Broad Holdings, South Korea’s second-largest cable operator by subscriber numbers, for KRW200 billion ($190 million).
Hahn & Co to buy Hanjin’s bulk carrier business
Hahn & Co. will pay KRW400 billion ($380 million) for a 76% stake in Hanjin Shipping’s bulk carrier business. This is the South Korean private equity firm’s second foray into the shipping sector following an aborted attempt earlier this year to buy...
VIDEO: Steve Koltes of CVC Capital Partners
CVC Capital Partners has completed two control deals in China in 2013 and Steve Koltes, the firm's co-founder and co-chairman, expects more to follow. This evolution of opportunities in existing markets - plus the opening up of new markets - will see...
Sprott, Woori win Korean mandate for $750m global resources fund
South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) will lead a consortium of institutional investors in putting up half the capital for a $750 million private equity fund to be managed by Canadian asset manager Sprott and Woori Asset Management. The 10-year...
Hahn & Co invests $190m in South Korea's Woongjin Foods
Hahn & Co has paid $190 million for a 57% stake in Woongjin Foods, Korea's third largest non-alcoholic beverage company and subsidiary of ailing conglomerate Woongjin Group.
Darby exits South Korea’s Leadcorp
Darby Private Equity, a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton Investments, has exited its stake in South Korean consumer finance company Leadcorp through sales on the Kosdaq Market of Korean Exchange. The financial details were not disclosed.
South Korea’s Vogo raises $350m for Fund II
Vogo Investment has raised $350 million for its second South Korea-focused fund. A final close is expected early in 2014 once final negotiations on terms with a few LPs, including domestic heavyweight the National Pension Service, are completed.
PE firms in the hunt for Tyco's Korea business - report
KKR, Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners are reportedly among the preliminary bidders for the South Korean unit of US-based security systems specialist Tyco International. The unit is known as ADT Caps.
BootstrapLabs launches Korea accelerator
Silicon Valley-based accelerator program BootstrapLabs, and Coolidge Corner Investment (CCVC), a Korean technology venture firm, have together formed BootstrapAccelerator Korea, a Seoul-based six-month accelerator program.
Korea to broaden retail exposure to domestic private equity
South Korean regulators will make it easier for domestic retail investors to participate in private equity as part of a series of reforms designed to boost the country’s capital markets.
Asia Awards: PE Professional of the Year - Michael Kim
MBK Partners closed its North Asia-focused fund in September and also completed four of Asia’s largest buyouts of 2013. Michael B. Kim, the firm’s founding partner, looks back on a busy 12 months
MBK consortium bids for Woori NPL unit - report
MBK Partners is said to have teamed up with BS Financial Group to place a final bid for Woori Finance Holdings’ non-performing loans business. This is the second part of a three-phase auction intended to finally dispose of the Korean government’s...
MBK Partners sells Japan-based Invoice to Lone Star
MBK Partners has fully exited Invoice, Japan’s largest telecom bill aggregation service provider, to Lone Star Funds. The sale price was not disclosed but sources close to the deal said the North Asia-focused private equity firm had generated a 2.5x...
Gaw Capital acquires London property for Korean investors
Gaw Capital Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity real estate firm, has acquired Waterside House - an office building in London - on behalf of a pool of South Korean institutional investors.
Korea, Russia sovereign funds launch investment platform
Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has agreed to form an investment platform with fellow sovereign wealth fund the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). Each side will contribute an initial $250 million and it is hoped the fund will reach $1 billion...
North Asia GPs cautiously optimistic on economic reforms – AVCJ Forum
Government-driven reforms in Japan and South Korea have the potential to deliver more buyout opportunities, although industry participants told the AVCJ Forum in Hong Kong that their optimism is cautious rather than wholehearted.
H&Q invests $90m Monster-owned JobKorea
H&Q Korea has agreed to buy a 49.9% interest in JobKorea, the South Korean operation of Monster Worldwide, for an aggregate purchase price of $90 million. Monster will retain management control of the business, with H&Q supporting regional expansion efforts.