In an irony-free investment move, the National Pension Service has invested US$300 million with US private-equity fund Texas Pacific Group, which rescued Korea First Bank in 1999 and got no thanks for the effort. TPG’s affiliate/competitor Newbridge Capital, you may recall, got kicked around to no end in the press when it exited in 2005 with a profit.
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One Comment
Hummm… I consider this actually a good thing for the maturization of Korean financial markets. Insitutional investors, like the NPS, get to diversify into private equity, understand it a bit more and realize it’s not just a handful of foreign financial vultures ready to pounce on distressed Korean companies.
Yes, it may seem hypocritical on the surface of it, but familiarity breeds a comfort level, particularly for a country that has historically suffered (both real and imagined) at the hands of foreign powers.
Lastly, it’s not just Koreans who cast a wary eye at Private Equity and leveraged acquisitions. Remember the late 80’s with KKR, Drexel Burnham Lambert and Michael Milken? It was the days of Barbarians at the Gate and buying $100 million companies with only $2 million of equity.