이 기사는 2020년 05월 18일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

MBK Partners has revealed its view that the current situation, where the fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak is creating market disruption, could offer new investment opportunities in light of previous experiences.

In its latest annual letter to investors, the buyout firm said, “This is the time to make investments,” citing effects from the coronavirus pandemic as one of the new challenges in the investment environment this year.

“The oversupply of GP capital has only grown, to a record $105 billion in dry powder in Asia. Valuations in private transactions were up across North Asia,” said the Seoul-based firm. It expected the impact of COVID-19 to be much more severe and to last far longer than that of previous pandemics like SARS.

“Experience tells us, however, that opportunities arise from challenges,” MBK Partners emphasized, adding, “Having invested through two cycles, the Asia Financial Crisis and the Great Financial Recession, we know this crisis, too, shall pass.” The firm expected consumer demand to eventually rebound this time as well.

“We also know deal opportunities proliferate in times of distress or upheaval,” the firm said, which is why it expected special situations strategies to become more popular in the private equity industry.

In this light, MBK Partners said it would focus on cementing relationships with various stakeholders. “We will bring to bear our relationships with local sellers, advisors, lenders, even regulators and policymakers, to press our competitive advantage,” it said in the letter.

With an emphasis on domestic consumption, MBK Partners is maintaining its strategic focus on three core sectors of consumer/retail, telecommunications/media and financial services, which account for more than 75 percent of the firm’s portfolio.

“We believe our reliance on consumption, over exports, has effectively insulated our portfolio against macro shocks and negative exogenous factors, including the U.S.-China trade conflict, currency wars and foreign sovereign debt crises,” it said.

MBK Partners said it has crystallized its market positioning across North Asia over the last 15 years, with its focus on localness. In Korea, in particular, it has done many buyouts related to the country’s family-run conglomerates, or chaebol, based on its relationships with the owner families and management. “Of our 17 Buyout investments in Korea, eight are chaebol divestitures,” it said.

In Japan, MBK Partners has put its focus on relationships with management of listed mid-cap companies. Five are management buyouts of its nine Japanese investments, according to the firm. In China, the firm has focused on joint-control partnership investments, with seven of its 11 Chinese investments coming under this category.

(By reporter Han Hee-yeon)