이 기사는 2020년 02월 04일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s mid-market private equity firm SG Private Equity (SG PE) has closed its third fund, securing capital from major domestic anchor investors.

SG PE has raised 490 billion won ($409 million) for its third blind-pool fund, sources with knowledge of the matter said on January 30. The private equity firm received 400 billion won of commitments in a first close at the end of last year and raised additional 90 billion won last month.

SG PE received most of the commitments from domestic pension funds and mutual-aid associations, which hired SG PE as external manager for their private equity strategies. Last April, the private equity firm secured 100 billion won through a fund of funds vehicle launched by both K-Growth – the country’s fund of funds operator – and Korea Development Bank (KDB) with an aim of facilitating growth of small and mid-cap companies in the country.

SG PE made a significant progress in fundraising for the remaining period of the year, being hired as external manager by several domestic asset owners in a row, including the Korean Teachers' Credit Union (KTCU), the National Pension Service (NPS), Yellow Umbrella Mutual-aid Fund, and the Scientists and Engineers Mutual Aid Association (SEMA). It raised more than 270 billion won from them.

The private equity firm also received commitments worth 40 billion won each from the Government Employees Pension System (GEPS) and the Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) in January.

Along with the new fund, SG PE has dry powder of around 40 billion won to spend on more deals through its second fund. With sufficient capital on hand, SG PE is expected to be more active in investments this year. The firm also plans to hire additional staff to ramp up its investment activity.

SG PE is recognized for its strong track record of providing solutions for financially distressed mid-sized firms. With investments to be made through its third fund, the private equity house is likely to put more focus on growth companies.

Indeed, SG PE recently made a pre-IPO investment worth 10 billion won in Takeone Company, a local game and pop-culture content startup. This represented the nine-year old private equity firm’s first investment in a growth company.

(By reporter Jo Se-hun)