Jungjingong Issues 200 Billion KRW in Scale-Up Finance

Providing a Platform for Innovative Mid-Sized Companies to Leap Forward
Supporting 80 Promising Mid-Sized Companies in Super-Gap and New Industries

On June 30, the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (Jungjingong) announced that it has supported the issuance of 200 billion KRW worth of corporate bonds for 80 promising mid-sized companies with high growth potential through the "2025 Scale-Up Finance (P-CBO)" program.

The Scale-Up Finance program is designed to help mid-sized companies that have difficulty issuing corporate bonds based on their own credit to raise funds through the direct financing market. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Jungjingong are focusing on supporting outstanding mid-sized companies in the fields of innovative growth, super-gap and new industries, as well as companies selected for the Jump-Up program, to help them grow into mid-tier enterprises through this Scale-Up Finance initiative.

Jungjingong

Companies supported by the program can structure the corporate bonds issued through Scale-Up Finance into securitized assets (P-CBO) and sell them to private investors and Jungjingong, thereby securing the necessary funds. In addition, with the participation of private investors in the acquisition of these securitized assets, the program supplies large-scale funds at more than three times the amount of government funding, thereby encouraging the scale-up of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The companies that participated in this Scale-Up Finance program were identified as growth-stage mid-sized companies with an average annual sales of 63.4 billion KRW, an average of about 70 employees, and an average business history of 19 years. The average issuance amount per company was about 2.5 billion KRW, and the corporate bond issuance interest rate is applied differentially according to credit ratings.

Kang Seokjin, Chairman of Jungjingong, stated, "Scale-Up Finance is a program that supports large-scale fund-raising for mid-sized companies that have difficulty issuing corporate bonds based on their own credit," adding, "This year, we will actively support mid-sized companies so that they can grow into mid-tier and global leading enterprises."