이 기사는 2022년 02월 15일 08:04 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s private equity firm Crescendo Equity Partners has decided to offload its stake in Model Solution, a Korea- and US-based precision prototype manufacturer, nine years after its investment, according to industry sources.

Hankook Tire & Technology and Crescendo own 75% and 25% stakes, respectively, in Model Solution. The stake owned by Crescendo is up for sale.

Crescendo acquired a majority stake in Model Solution for about 70 billion won ($58 million) in 2014 by forming a consortium with SkyLake Investment and UK-based electronics part making Laird. Of the stake, 51% was owned by Laird and a 31.86% was held by Crescendo.

SkyLake exited its investment in 2016, two years after its investment, and Crescendo bought the stake from SkyLake to increase its stake in Model Solution to 49%.

After that, Laird sold its stake in Model Solution to Hankook Tire & Technology alongside Crescendo. Hankook Tire & Technology bought Laird’s full stake and about half of Crescendo’s stake in Model Solution for 68.6 billion won, becoming the largest shareholder of the company with a 75% stake.

If the sale is completed, Crescendo will retrieve all of its invested capital 3.5 years after it made its partial exit.

Model Solution, which has operations in Seoul and Silicon Valley, designs and manufactures prototypes, with market leading expertise in precision prototyping, design support, tooling, low volume manufacturing and 3D printing.

It services a wide range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, consumer, medical and industrial, with a diverse blue chip customer base, including Samsung Electronics, Tesla, Amazon, and Apple. It generated revenue of 55.6 billion won and an operating profit of 6.8 billion won in 2020.

The company has continued investments in research and development to improve the quality of products. It also aims to expand its business to original development manufacturing and original equipment manufacturing through partnerships with other companies. Model Solution is preparing to go public. (Reporting by Seon-young Kim)