이 기사는 2021년 04월 06일 07:49 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

IMM Private Equity (IMM PE) is bolstering its presence in the buyout space after striking a deal to sell its majority stake in online fashion platform W Concept to Shinsegae Group’s SSG.com for about 200 billion won ($177.3 million).

The deal, which is expected to complete later this month, will generate a 30% internal rate of return for IMM PE. With the sale, the homegrown private equity firm has fully exited five of the 10 buyout deals in which it has invested since its inception.

The acquisition of auto parts supplier CAP Corp in 2010 was the Seoul-based firm’s first buyout deal. It was one of the investments from IMM PE’s first flagship fund, IMM RoseGold I, which closed at 312.5 billion won in 2008. Seven years later, CAP was sold to a consortium led by smartphone parts maker NPD.

IMM PE started to focus on buyout deals in 2012, when its second fund closed at 755.6 billion won, more than double its predecessor. Major buyout investments made from the fund included Hollys Coffee, Hyundai LNG Shipping, cable maker Taihan Electric Wire and Tailim Packaging.

Hollys Coffee and Tailim Packaging were fully exited last year, with each sold to KG Group and Sae-A Trading. IMM PE also announced last week that it agreed to sell its entire 40% stake in Taihan Electric Wire to Hoban E&C in a 251.8 billion won deal that is expected to close in May.

The firm’s third fund, which closed in 2015 with 1.25 trillion won in commitments, invested in buyout transactions involving cosmetics maker Able C&C and W Concept. The third fund also bought industrial gas supplier AirFirst – formerly known as Linde Korea – in 2019 for 1.3 trillion won, IMM PE’s first deal worth more than the 1 trillion won mark.

IMM PE last year completed two buyout investments in travel agency HanaTour and Kolmar Korea’s pharmaceutical business through its 2 trillion won fourth flagship fund despite the Covid-19 pandemic that affected dealmaking.

The investment firm also launched a private debt business, IMM Credit Solutions, last year to separate buyout deals from minority stake investments. IMM Credit Solutions seeks mid-risk, mid-return by investing in various debt securities such as asset-backed securities and collateralized loan obligations, as well as direct lending and mezzanine debt. (Reporting by Si-eun Park)