[Funding] Humax Secures 30 Billion KRW Loan Following Office Building Sale... Accelerates Investment Fund Acquisition

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] Set-top box company Humax has raised an additional 30 billion KRW in funds following the sale of its Bundang office building. The company is accelerating the securing of investment funds as it increases new investments in mobility, including electric vehicle charging equipment.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 24th, Humax recently borrowed 30 billion KRW from a lending group led by Hanyang Securities. The loan has a maturity of two years and can be repaid early before maturity.

The lending group attached a condition that if the credit rating of commercial paper (CP) or short-term bonds issued by Humax falls below A3-, the loan must be repaid immediately due to loss of benefit of term. Currently, the short-term credit rating is A3-, so one more downgrade would trigger early repayment.

The raised funds are reportedly planned to be used for new business investments. Humax has recently been intensifying its new business investments. It is focusing on building a mobility ecosystem through businesses such as electric vehicle charging equipment and related service operations, as well as car-sharing services centered on electric vehicles.

Its affiliates Humax Mobility provide car-sharing services, while Hi-Parking and AJ Park handle the parking lot sector. Humax EV offers electric vehicle charging platform services, and RTicast and DigiParts are responsible for equipment business.

In this process, the burden of affiliate investments is also increasing. In the second quarter of this year, Humax completed an additional investment of about 60 billion KRW in Humax Mobility. Hi-Parking supported acquisition funds and operating capital during the acquisition of competitor AJ Park.

Humax is accelerating fund securing simultaneously with successive investments. In June, it secured liquidity by selling its Bundang office building to Korea Land Trust through a 'sale and leaseback' method for about 220 billion KRW. In the same month, it conducted a paid-in capital increase of 40 billion KRW, and earlier in April, it sold its Mesh Korea shares for 37.7 billion KRW.

An IB industry official said, "It will take some time until the results of the new businesses Humax is investing in become visible," adding, "The demand for new fund raising for affiliate investments will continue until the results become tangible."

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