Clear Achievements in 'Fundraising and Recovery'... Final Fundraising Target of 2.6 Trillion Won
Portfolio Investments Focused on Companies with Validated Business Models
Private equity firm IMM Private Equity (PE) demonstrated clear achievements in fundraising and exit performance this year. Through its fifth blind fund, Rosegold, it secured funds worth trillions of won and made its first investment of around 100 billion won.
Blind Fund 'Rosegold 5' Raises 1.54 Trillion Won from 29 Institutions
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 22nd, IMM PE has raised a total of 1.54 trillion won from 29 institutions so far through its fifth blind fund (a fund that does not pre-select investment targets), 'Rosegold 5.'
Following the initial 800 billion won raised at the end of last year from more than 14 investment institutions including the Teachers' Pension, Private School Teachers' Pension, NongHyup Central Association, Korea Investment & Securities, and Samsung Securities, an additional approximately 740 billion won was raised this year from 15 institutions such as the National Pension Service, Korea Post, and Military Mutual Aid Association.
Rosegold 5 has set a final target amount of 2.6 trillion won and plans to secure an additional approximately 1 trillion won in the future.
Airfirst IRR 39% Exit Performance and Able C&C Crisis Management Capability Demonstrated
The background to IMM PE's strong fundraising performance lies in its investment exit achievements. This year, IMM PE sold a 30% stake in industrial gas company Airfirst to global asset management firm BlackRock for 1.1 trillion won.
The market regards it as exceptional that IMM PE recorded an internal rate of return (IRR) of 39% despite selling only a minority stake. The company's valuation, which was 1.3 trillion won based on 100% ownership in 2019, grew to 3.7 trillion won. Within about four years of investment, IMM PE recovered most of its principal by selling only 30% of its stake.
IMM PE's crisis management ability also stood out. It resolved the event of default (EOD) status by improving the performance of Able C&C (Missha), which had been a 'pain point' in IMM PE's portfolio. This is unprecedented in the history of domestic acquisition financing.
In the second half of last year, Able C&C's acquisition financing triggered an EOD due to opposition from one of the major lenders. IMM PE focused on improving performance over the past year and maintained a profitable trend through external growth without additional capital injection. The lenders judged that the possibility of fund recovery had increased, leading to refinancing of the acquisition financing.
During the refinancing process, IMM PE conducted a partial exit through dividends from Able C&C. In October, Able C&C paid a cash dividend of approximately 33 billion won. Considering IMM PE's 61.52% ownership, it received about 20.3 billion won (pre-tax).
Rosegold 5's First Investment is 'Again' Airfirst... Completed 100 Billion Won Investment
The first investment of the Rosegold 5 fund is Airfirst. On the 20th, it completed an investment of 100 billion won. This can be interpreted as a follow-up and co-investment in Airfirst, a high-quality company already invested in by Rosegold 3 and 4 funds.
The second investment is likely to be either Songwon Industry or UTK, which are currently under negotiation with the sellers. The 5th fund is expected to focus on structurally growing industries such as healthcare and semiconductor-related sectors.
The fund plans to prioritize investments in companies with high entry barriers that generate stable cash flows based on long-term supply contracts with clients.
An IMM PE official said, "We will pay close attention not only to buyouts that occur at the retirement of founders of small and medium-sized enterprises but also to carve-out deals from large corporations and growth capital investments. We will also accelerate exits of existing fund investment assets such as Kyobo Life Insurance, Socar, and Genewone Science."
Meanwhile, IMM PE has raised the Rosegold 1 fund with 310 billion won in 2008, followed by the 2nd fund with 760 billion won, the 3rd fund with 1.26 trillion won, and the 4th fund with 1.9 trillion won.
Through its blind funds, IMM PE has conducted buyout investments in Able C&C, Hana Tour, Hanssem, and Pet Friends, and successfully exited by selling Halley's F&B, Korea Electric Wire, W Concept, CAP, and Taelim Packaging & Paper. It has also made growth capital investments in K Bank, Socar, Woori Financial Group, and Shinhan Financial Group.
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