[THE INVESTOR] MBK Partners, the nation’s largest private equity fund, is seeking to create a new fund worth up to 4 trillion won (US$3.6 billion), Korea Economic Daily reported on Sept. 2.
The new funding -- the fourth of its kind -- comes after the third one worth 3 trillion won was created in 2013.
MBK Partners Chairman Kim Byung-joo
The newspaper reported that MBK’s top executives, including Chairman Kim Byung-joo, are contacting foreign limited partners to raise capital.
The company declined to confirm the new funding plan.
If it succeeds in the new funding, the firm is expected to become a major PEF in Asia handling a combined 15 trillion won.
Established in 2005, MBK has acquired assets worth 10.84 trillion won over the past three years, including ING Life (1.8 trillion won), Homeplus (7.68 trillion won) and Doosan Machine Tools (1.36 trillion won).
Industry watchers say MBK’s ongoing sell-off deals, including ING Life and Coway, the water purifier rental firm, would affect its planned raising capital.
By Lee Ji-yoon (
jylee@heraldcorp.com)
