이 기사는 2020년 05월 12일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s newly established private equity firm Centroid Investment Partners is garnering attention with its recent buyout investments.

The PE firm has acquired nonwoven fabric maker Kolon Advanced Fiber from textile conglomerate Kolon Group last year and Woongjin Booxen from Woongjin Group this year. The PE firm’s successful fundraising activities despite the outbreak of the coronavirus are drawing keen attention from industry observers.

Centroid has struck a deal to buy Woongjin Group’s book distributor arm Woongjin Booxen for 49.3 billion won at the beginning of this year, sources familiar with the matter said on May 7.

In December of 2019, the PE firm has acquired Kolon Advanced Fiber for 61 billion won through a carve-out acquisition after a year-long negotiation with Kolon Group. Centroid formed a consortium with Yellowsea Management to acquire old shares worth 43 billion won and new shares worth 18 billion won.

The PE firm has privately acquired the two companies without a public auction.

What is notable about Centroid’s recent investments is that they have further upside. For Kolon Advanced Fiber, proceeds worth 18 billion won will be used to expand facility investments to meet growing demands of nonwoven fabrics. Global nonwoven fabrics market is estimated to grow 7.2 percent on average every year by 2022.

Woonjin Booxen’s logistics center located in Paju Book City, home to local publishing houses in Paju, has a gross floor area of approximately 50 thousand square meters. The company may generate additional revenue if a new logistics center is built on some 9900 square meters of unused land.

Centroid is currently reviewing the appropriateness of the investment and has completed a fundraising of approximately eight billion won with the new investment in mind.

Centroid has carried out several large buyouts with assets under management exceeding 200 billion won in just five years after its establishment. Centroid was founded in 2015 by Jung Jin-hyuk, an investment banker from Macquarie Securities. The PE firm is composed of young managers who are in their 30s, which is not a common case in the industry.

Centroid’s first buyout transaction was SolidEng, an ICT company that provides three product lifecycle management (3PDLM). The PE firm invested total 54 billion won in SolidEng.

The PE firm also invested 7.5 billion won in China-based Glee Biotech, 10.4 billion won in American online personal finance company Social Finance (SoFi) and 9.3 billion won in Kencoa Aerospace. With its investments in Kolon Advanced Fiber and Woonjin Booxen, Centroid’s cumulative AUM has soared to 206.5 billion won.

(By reporter Jo Se-hun)