Chairman Kim Byung-joo of MBK Annual Letter... "Golden Era of Investment Over 2 Years"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Kim Byung-joo, chairman of the private equity firm MBK Partners, announced on the 14th through an annual letter to investors that "a golden window for investment will open over the next two years." The annual letter is sent to about 100 major global institutional investors, including the National Pension Service, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC).

Chairman Kim said, "The lessons learned from experiencing three market shocks?the financial crises of 1998 and 2008, and last year's COVID-19 pandemic?are that significant investment opportunities will arise in the future."

MBK's assets under management amount to approximately 27 trillion won. The firm has invested in Homeplus, BHC, Lotte Card, Golfzon County, and others.

MBK Partners also disclosed that it has begun raising its second Special Situations Fund (SSF) with a scale of $1.25 billion (about 1.4 trillion won) in line with this. Chairman Kim said, "We recently started the process of forming SSF 2, aiming to complete it in the first half of the year." The SSF is a fund without predetermined investment areas, including management buyouts, corporate restructuring, distressed assets, and minority stake acquisitions. This move aims to bolster liquidity following the 8 trillion won fifth buyout fund raised last year.

Chairman Kim stated, "COVID-19 has been an opportunity to reassess our investment philosophy," adding, "We are reaffirming the principle that all investments must be technology-based transactions."

He predicted that the digital transformation of invested companies such as Homeplus, Godiva, Modern House, and Wendoo will accelerate. He emphasized that instead of passively waiting to return to pre-COVID-19 conditions, it is essential to bet on digitalization for survival.

He said, "There is a saying that 'cash is king' during economic recovery phases," and added, "MBK holds about 7 trillion won in dry powder (unspent capital)." This indicates that the firm is prepared to actively engage in promising investment opportunities that arise, backed by substantial firepower.

MBK succeeded in recovering investment funds amounting to 4 trillion won last year. Despite the shocks caused by COVID-19, it delivered results. Representative cases include the sale of Daesung Industrial Gases, which yielded a profit of 1.3 trillion won, and the sale of Chinese logistics company Apex Logistics, which generated 4.5 times the invested capital in returns.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.