Over the 10-year period, PEFs have participated in management of 117 companies, or 25.7 percent, of 690 PEF-funded companies. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Mar. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Local private equity funds (PEFs) saw their combined assets under management soar more than 100-fold in the past 10 years as they have successfully attracted investors seeking higher investment returns, the financial watchdog said Tuesday.
A total of 51.2 trillion won (US$45.9 billion) in assets were under management by 277 PEFs at the end of 2014, compared with 400 billion won tallied in 2004 when two PEFs were floated for the first time in the country, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
They collected 9.8 trillion won in investment last year alone, up from 7.4 trillion won in 2013 and 9.7 trillion won in 2012.
They have invested a cumulative 46.1 trillion won in 690 companies over the past decade.
The FSS said that PEFs have focused more on financial investment with the aim to realize a return on their investment, rather than having interest in potential acquisition targets and managerial rights.
Over the 10-year period, PEFs have participated in management of 117 companies, or 25.7 percent, of 690 PEF-funded companies.
“There were not so many PEFs serving as venture capital as they have less contributed to corporate restructuring or management improvement,” the FSS said. “We are planning to reorganize the types of PEFs and expand their managing autonomy to encourage PEFs to play a role in providing venture capital money in the industry.”
(Yonhap)
