South Korea’s non-public fairness business, now in its twentieth yr, is coming into a pivotal management transition as second-generation dealmakers step into key roles lengthy held by the business’s founders.
Born largely out of the post-financial-crisis restructuring period of the early 2000s, the Korean PE business is shifting from a founder-centric mannequin to a deeper, institutionally structured ecosystem, one more and more outlined by professionals of their 40s and early 50s.
On the nation’s largest buyout corporations, this rising management bench is already shaping deal circulation, diversifying methods and sharpening competitors in a market that has grown from distressed-asset clean-ups to certainly one of Asia’s most lively platforms for mid-market buyouts, company carve-outs and personal credit score.
MBK PARTNERS’ NEXT BENCH STEPS FORWARD
At MBK Companions, certainly one of Asia’s highest-profile buyout corporations specializing in North Asia, the highlight is popping to a cohort of companions born within the late Seventies, who now lead most of the agency’s marquee transactions.
Amongst them, Lee Jin-ha, a former Bain & Firm guide, is extensively seen as a number one candidate within the agency’s eventual management succession.
Lee, born in 1977, has been on the heart of a number of main MBK offers starting from Doosan Machine Instruments to Orange Life Insurance coverage and Lotte Card Co.
IMM PE ACCELERATES SUCCESSION
First-generation home managers are additionally advancing their inside transitions. At IMM Non-public Fairness Inc., accomplice Yoo Hun-suk is more and more seen as a part of the agency’s future management core.
A former accountant and transaction adviser, Yoo, born in 1981, joined the agency within the early 2010s and has since performed a key function in landmark offers such because the acquisition and later partial sell-down of AirFirst Co., the native industrial fuel enterprise carved out from Linde Korea.
He’s a part of a rising group that features fellow companions Kim Jeong-hwan and Moon Joo-ho, who now steer offers and particular conditions methods.
This shift can also be seen at different first-generation PEF homes. Skylake Funding, based by Chairman Chin Dae-je, is more and more pushed by Presidents Kim Younger-min (born in 1973) and Lee Sang-il (born in 1972).
Equally, STIC Funding has reorganized its management round Chai Jin-ho, born in 1971, the pinnacle of its non-public fairness division.
VIG PARTNERS MOVES BEYOND BUYOUTS
The generational shift is equally seen at mid-market specialist VIG Companions.
Whereas managing companions Lee Chul-min and Shin Chang-hoon, each of their early 50s, stay lively, a youthful slate of companions has additionally taken the lead in increasing the agency’s credit score and structured-capital capabilities.
Amongst them, Han Younger-hwan (born in 1983) has emerged as a central determine in VIG’s progress.
A former Goldman Sachs Particular Conditions Group govt, Han leads VIG Different Credit score, which has swiftly constructed a profile in non-public credit score and structured offers, together with progress funding for Korean prop-tech agency Zigbang.
The growing adoption of credit score and hybrid-capital methods amongst second-generation managers underscores a broader transition from basic leveraged buyouts to a extra diversified funding strategy.
YOUNGER HOUSES STAND OUT IN CARVE-OUTS AND RESTRUCTURING
The following wave is just not restricted to successors inside massive corporations. A rising variety of younger-founded homes are rising on the power of specialised methods.
At Glenwood Non-public Fairness Co., CEO Lee Sang-ho, born in 1977, has constructed an influential franchise in company carve-outs, serving to conglomerates shed non-core divisions whereas creating worth by way of restructuring and operational turnarounds.
His work has made Glenwood a go-to participant for complicated industrial transactions.
Different notable figures amongst Korea’s newer technology of unbiased PEF founders embody Lee Ki-doo, who launched Crescendo Fairness Companions in 2012, and Rha Min-sang, head of Praxis Capital Companions.
Affirma Capital, a Singapore-based buyout PE agency, can also be fronted in Korea by a next-generation chief, Shim Min-hyun (Thomas). Born in 1979, Shim has spearheaded most of the agency’s waste-management and environmental offers, an more and more enticing section for international ESG-focused buyers.
Dominus Funding, based by CEO Jeong Do-hyun, can also be witnessing a higher function for its second-generation dealmakers, led by Vice President Koh Byung-wook.
A MATURING MARKET MEETS A NEW COHORT
The shift to youthful management comes because the Korean PE market matures from its crisis-driven origins to a extra institutionalized, globally related business.
Deal buildings have gotten extra subtle, funding horizons longer and cross-border methods extra frequent.
On the identical time, the brand new technology inherits a harder atmosphere like greater rates of interest, slower exits and elevated public and regulatory scrutiny of PE possession.
However their backgrounds, starting from international consulting and funding banking to particular conditions and structured credit score, appear to have geared up them with a extra assorted instrument package than the business’s pioneers had twenty years in the past.
If the founders constructed Korea’s PE business, the second technology is poised to outline its subsequent chapter, one marked by broader methods, deeper specialization and a extra international mindset, business consultants mentioned.
