이 기사는 2021년 07월 07일 07:43 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korean private equity (PE) firm Stonebridge Capital has invested in the nation’s film production company Realies Pictures, which achieved some of the biggest commercial successes in Korea.

Stonebridge Capital has become the second largest shareholder of Realies Pictures last month, industry source said Monday. The investment has been made through the firm’s Stonebridge Mid-Cap I Fund.

Founded in 2006 by Won Dong-yeon, Realies Pictures immediately made an impact in the Korean film industry with the hit romantic-comedy ‘200 Pounds Beauty.’ The ‘Masquerade’ and the ‘Along with the Gods’ series, which was originally based on a webtoon, each attracted more than 10 million viewers.

Stonebridge Capital has made the latest investment to capitalize on the company’s intellectual property licensing rights and film production capability. Realise Pictures is making ‘Along with the Gods’ into drama series as it expands the business to drama production.

“Realies Pictures is a leading film production company in Korea, which has secured intellectual property rights of webtoons and web novels with popularity,” said an industry source. The source expected the production firm to enhance presence in the market amid rising attention to Hallyu contents.

Stonebridge Capital closed its blind-pool fund, Stonebridge Mid-Cap I Fund, at 306 billion won ($270 million) in 2020. The fund invested in U.S.-based Caris Life Sciences and domestic cloud managed service provider Cloocus.

The PE firm generated a return of more than two times invested capital through an exit from its investment in digital marketing firm Incross in 2018 and recorded an internal rate of return (IRR) of more than 40% by selling an 8.15% stake in Aekyung Industrial in 2019. It recently generated an IRR of 75% through an exit from its investment in SoluM. (Reporting by Seon-young Kim)