이 기사는 2020년 01월 23일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

The first investment of a fund jointly created by South Korea’s SK Group and the Korean Teachers' Credit Union (KTCU) has been made in a U.S-based midstream company.

SK Holdings Co., Ltd. and the KTCU have recently signed a deal to deploy capital from their joint fund to invest in Brazos Midstream, sources familiar with the matter said on January 17. The transaction is expected to complete later this month.

In a deal, SK Holdings sold to the KTCU half of its 20 percent stake in Brazos, which the South Korean conglomerate acquired back in 2018 through investment in an infrastructure fund managed by Morgan Stanley. By choosing the U.S. midstream company as their first investment from the joint fund, SK Group and the KTCU both appear to have decided to make a safe bet.

The KTCU, one of the country’s major institutional investors, is apparently expecting Brazos Midstream to generate stable cash flow and maintain profitability. With its business in the natural gas gathering and processing segment, Brazos is considered one of the largest private natural gas and crude oil midstream companies in the Delaware Basin.

In September of 2019, SK Holdings and the KTCU signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a 1.2 trillion won ($1.03 billion) joint fund with an aim to invest in private assets in the overseas market. The two parties committed 600 billion won ($515 million) each. The KTCU hired IMM Investment to manage its commitment.

Now attention has turned to the joint fund’s next investment. The fund’s focus is not limited to energy and infrastructure assets. Industry observers are paying attention to the fact that the KCTU has partnered with SK Holdings, which is the group’s holding company. It is taking the lead on the conglomerate’s investment activity in a range of areas – including energy, telecommunication and semiconductors – with an aim of find new growth engines.

The KTCU is also expanding its effort to source more deals in the overseas market in order to enhance returns. In the mid-to-long term, it plans to gradually increase the share of foreign assets in its total assets under management to 50 percent from a current 42 percent.

(By reporter Kim Hye-ran)