11
Sep
K-engineered: The next phase of growth
Investment opportunities in South Korea are often viewed through the prism of domestic reforms and international expansion. Private equity continues to feed on succession planning and divestments, aided by issues like inheritance tax. Some hope that the Corporate Value-up Program, intended to boost stock prices, will facilitate more take-private and carve-out activity. Sector expertise remains a must-have, but there’s also a recognition that success is founded on the ability to scale – and address complexities – overseas.
- How are M&A and public market trends influencing PE behaviour?
- Can Value-up do for Korea what similar reforms are doing for Japan?
- How is private equity leveraging global appetite for Korean products?
- What opportunities will define the next phase of Korean private equity?
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SpeakersSung Park Managing Director Asia Alternatives
Samuel Kim Co-Head of Korea Affinity Equity Partners
EC Cho Co-Head of Korea, Senior Managing Director CVC Capital Partners
SJ Lee Managing Director, Head of Korea Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Hi Joo Hong Managing Director, Private Equity KKR
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Sung Park is a Managing Director of Asia Alternatives and is based in the Firm’s Hong Kong office. Ms. Park is on the Firm’s Investment Committee and co-leads Asia Alternatives’ investments in Korea and Japan. Ms. Park is primarily responsible for deal sourcing, due diligence, deal execution and portfolio management of private equity fund investments and direct co-investments in Japan and Korea. Ms. Park also co-leads the Firm’s Special Situations and Secondaries and is an integral member of Asia Alternatives’ market research team. Ms. Park has over 17 years of experience in private equity investing, management consulting and business operations in Asia. Prior to joining Asia Alternatives, Ms. Park was a Senior Consultant at Corporate Value Associates (CVA) in the Seoul office, focusing on corporate strategy, operational improvement and due diligence for Korean conglomerates and multinational companies in technology, financial services and consumer industries. Previously, she worked at Sony Group as a product manager of semiconductor and electronic devices, focusing on marketing and sales functions. Ms. Park holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Seoul National University. She is fluent in Korean and conversant in Japanese.
Samuel Kim joined Affinity Equity Partners in 2013 and is Co-Head of Affinity Equity Partners Korea. He oversees the full spectrum of the firm's investment activities in Korea, with a particular focus on driving operational transformation and long-term value creation across the B2B services, healthcare, and technology sectors. Prior to joining Affinity, Samuel spent five years at McKinsey & Company in Seoul, where he advised Korean conglomerates and global firms on business transformation, operational turnaround, and post-merger integrations.
Samuel holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics from Harvard University.
EC Cho joined CVC in 2021. He is Co-Head of CVC South Korea team and based in Seoul.
Prior to joining, EC was a Director of the investment team at Hahn & Company. He also worked at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology as an R&D Staff Member in the Therapeutic Antibody Group.
EC holds a master's degree in Materials Science & Engineering from MIT and a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.
SJ is a managing director in Private and Growth Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, serving as head of Korea Investments. Earlier in his career, he spent eight years in the Investment Banking Division, covering Financial Institutions Group clients across Asia, including Korea and South East Asia. SJ initially joined the firm in 2006 as an associate and rejoined Goldman Sachs in 2023 as managing director.
Prior to rejoining the firm, SJ spent more than eight years at TPG in Asia focusing on buyout and growth investments. SJ has previously worked at Citigroup and PricewaterhouseCoopers. SJ earned a BA in Business Administration from Seoul National University in 2000.
Hi Joo Hong (Seoul) joined KKR in 2022 as a member of the Private Equity team. Prior to joining KKR, she was a director at Unison Capital Korea, where she spent eight years building its Korea private equity business as one of early members. She was involved in a number of control and minority investments. Ms. Hong began her career in Goldman Sachs' investment banking division, where she spent four years in Seoul and Hong Kong. Subsequently, she worked at Samsung Cheil Industries (current Samsung C&T). Ms. Hong holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago.