이 기사는 2020년 06월 15일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Glenwood Private Equity (Glenwood PE)’s post-merger integration strategies with a focus on expanding new businesses are leading to creating more new jobs in South Korea.

PI Advanced Materials, formerly known as SKC Kolon PI, has recently hired more than 20 new permanent employees, sources said on June 11. The move came after Glenwood PE completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in the company in March.

The hirings appears to be part of the buyout firm’s plans to expand the polyimide varnish business for PI Advanced Materials’ continued growth in the future. The company already has a dominant position in the polyimide film market with a market share of 85 percent in the country.

Glenwood PE closed its first blind-pool fund in 2018 at 453.7 billion won ($376 million). PI Advanced Materials is the third investment from the fund. Other two buyouts include two industrial gas suppliers – Haeyang Energy and Seorabeol City Gas – in 2018 and Hankuk Glass Industries in 2019.

Glenwood PE has consistently maintained its focus on business expansion and job creation during its efforts to increase the value of portfolio companies.

Hankuk Glass Industries, which was acquired from French material producer Saint-Gobain last December, is said to have hired 17 new permanent employees in May. The new jobs were seemingly created as a result of the company’s project to expand capacity for high-value added glass products. Glenwood PE injected some 40 billion won into the project by purchasing exchangeable notes issued by Hankuk Glass Industries.

Haeyang Energy, which was acquired from GS Energy along with Seorabeol City Gas in December 2018, also hired 14 new employees last year, the largest number ever in the company’s history. The gas suppliers have so far focused on expanding infrastructure and will likely soon start new businesses using advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things.

Glenwood PE’s consistent post-merger integration strategies are deeply related to its focus on carve-out opportunities, the firm said. Carve-out plays, in which the firm invests in non-core operations offloaded by large companies, constitute a majority of its portfolio.

There can be not enough investment in non-core operations belonging to conglomerates while some of them have sufficient growth potential, Glenwood PE said. After acquiring such businesses, the firm makes the necessary investment to help improve their competitiveness and ultimately seeks to exit by selling them to strategic buyers.

(Reporting by Hye-ran Kim)