Published : Oct. 19, 2016 - 17:35
[THE INVESTOR] MBK Partners’ China chief Kuo-Chuan Kung has recently resigned from the firm, Wall Street Journal reported on Sept. 18 citing unnamed sources.
The founder partner at South Korea’s largest private equity firm has managed more than US$10 billion in capital in Asia, including China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. There are eight partners at the firm, including founder and Chairman Kim Byung-jun.
The newspaper said his departure comes as several of China’s top deal makers are leaving established firms to set up their own shops. Some industry watchers say the firm’s weakening deal profits recently may have also affected his decision.
Kung led the buyout of Taiwan’s largest cable-television operator China Network Systems in July 2015 and then sold it to a consortium led by Far EasTone Telecommunications and Morgan Stanley for US$2.3 billion. He also invested in Chinese waste-to-energy business GSE Investment, later selling control to state-owned Beijing Enterprises Holdings for a profit in December 2014.
By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)