H&Q Asia Pacific (H&QAP) has announced that it has been selected by South Korea’s National Pension Corporation (NPC) to receive $200 million as an anchor investment for a new Korean control buyout fund.
Led by managing director Peter P.J. Ko, H&QAP’s Korea team formed a consortium with leading Korean financial institutions, including Hyundai Securities and Wise Asset Management, to participate in a bidding and selection process against other blue chip fund managers. Korea’s Shinhan Private Equity, an affiliate of the Shinhan Financial Group, was also chosen to receive an anchor investment of $150 million.
“The Korean government has shown great leadership and vision by beginning to invest in its domestic private equity industry and we are very proud to be their partner in this important initiative. We believe that the Korean economy offers many attractive opportunities for late-stage private equity investors and we look forward to working closely with our consortium partners for the benefit of our investors and portfolio companies. The addition of this new Korea fund to the H&QAP family reflects both the value of our regional network and the strength of our Korea team,” said Ta-lin Hsu, founder and chairman of H&Q Asia Pacific.
The National Pension Corporation’s $200 million investment is intended to be an anchor investment for the new H&QAP Korea fund and the ultimate fund size will range up to $400 million, with the majority of the fund being committed by Korean institutions. The new fund will make all of the investments domestically and is expected to start making investments in the second half of this year.
“The National Pension Corporation’s selection process showed a high degree of rigor and a deep commitment to invigorate Korea’s indigenous private equity industry. We are very honored to have been chosen from such a group of successful and prestigious financial institutions. Under the sponsorship of the NPC and together with our consortium partners, the strategy of the new Korea fund will focus on late-stage control and buyout opportunities, which reflects a continuation of our successful track record in Korea,” said Ko.