Editor’s Note
This article discusses MBK Partners’ impending exit from Japanese jeweler Tasaki, a deal expected to yield a double return after an eight-year investment.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 11th, MBK Partners is set to sign a stock purchase agreement this month with Hong Kong-based private equity firm FountainVest Partners to sell 100% of its stake in Tasaki. The enterprise value of Tasaki is estimated to be over $600 million (approximately 820 billion Korean won).
Tasaki is a jewelry brand founded in Japan in 1954 and is known for its high-priced luxury lines. MBK Partners began investing in Tasaki in 2008 when the brand’s competitiveness was weakening due to the growth of the Chinese jewelry market. In 2016, MBK secured management control by acquiring 100% of the shares through a public tender offer and subsequently delisting the company.
The acquisition price at the time is estimated to be around 400 billion won based on current market rates. If MBK Partners can sell Tasaki at the enterprise value level set by the market, it is expected to secure a return of more than double the acquisition cost.
Domestic private equity fund manager Crescendo Equity Partners (Crescendo) is acquiring CyberDigm, Korea’s largest document centralization solution company.
Crescendo announced on the 8th that it has invested over 100 billion won to acquire management rights of CyberDigm. The exact enterprise value and stake were not disclosed.
CyberDigm is a document solution company founded in 1998, providing services such as document security, collaboration, and output management to over 1,200 domestic and international companies and institutions including Samsung Electronics, KB Financial Group, Hyundai Card, and EcoPro. According to its own data, it holds the top market share in the domestic document centralization software market and prides itself on having not a single case of ransomware infection since its founding.
Crescendo cited the acceleration of corporate digital transformation, the spread of remote and hybrid work environments, and increased risks of information leakage as factors driving the future expansion of the document centralization market, which formed the background for its investment in CyberDigm.
For the first time in history, a Korean woman has been appointed CEO at a global private equity fund manager based overseas. The protagonist is Lee Soo-jin, the new representative who previously served as Managing Director at Macquarie Asset Management (MKAM), an Australian global private equity fund manager.
Macquarie Asset Management announced on the 9th that it has promoted Managing Director Lee Soo-jin to the position of new representative. With this appointment, MKAM now has a total of four Korean representatives, including the new representative Lee, along with Chief Representative Kim Yong-hwan, who heads Asian PE; Representative Shin Jung-seop, responsible for domestic and international funding; and Representative Seo Beom-sik, in charge of client solutions for Northeast Asia.
The new representative Lee joined the Korean Macquarie Group in 2008 and has been responsible for the investment and management of the Macquarie Korea Opportunities private equity fund (MKAM) series within the group for 16 years. Since 2022, she has also been listed as an internal director of the Macquarie Korea Opportunities Fund.
The private equity industry views MKAM’s personnel decision as recognition of her hard work and performance. The Macquarie Korea Opportunities Fund generated approximately 700 billion won in profits last year, including the exit from SK Shields, and completed the sale process for United Terminal Korea this year. The new representative Lee is credited with leading investments across various industries such as tank terminals, waste, media, and industrial gases.