MBK Partners (MBKP) is a North Asian focused

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm. According to Forbes, MBK Partners is one of the largest private equity firms in Asia, managing $25 billion worth of assets.

Overview

MBK Partners was founded in 2005 by Michael ByungJu Kim and several other senior Asian executives from the

Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...

. In 2021, the firm returned In January 2022, a 13% stake of the firm was sold to Dyal Capital Partners. The firm has two main businesses, Buyouts and Special Situations. MBK Partners' investment focus is in North Asian regions, namely

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. MBK Partners has offices in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Funds

Notable investments

* Godiva Japan *

HKBN HKBN Ltd., commonly known for its subsidiary Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited (), is a Hong Kong-based Internet, communication and telecommunication company. HKBN was established on 23 August 1999, it is one of the largest residential and en ...

Homeplus Homeplus () is a Korean discount store retail chain running about 140 branches with 25,000 employees throughout South Korea. Homeplus is the second largest retailer in South Korea, behind Shinsegae Group's e-mart chain. Homeplus operates its ...

* ING Life Korea *

K Bank K Bank (Hangul: 케이뱅크), is an online bank based in South Korea. Its largest owner is the telecommunications company, KT Corporation. History K Bank launched in 2017, when both KT and Kakao were given licenses to launch Internet-only ban ...

Universal Studios Japan is a theme park located in Osaka, Japan. Opened on March 31, 2001, it is one of six Universal Parks & Resorts, Universal Studios theme parks worldwide and was the first to open outside the United States. The park is owned and operated by a whol ...

* Wharf T&T

Notable transactions

In May 2009, MBKP and

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

acquired a 98.3% stake in

for 1.4 billion. In August 2013, MBKP acquired

ING Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...

's South Korean insurance unit for total cash proceeds of 1.84 trillion won ($1.65 billion). In November 2014, MBKP sold accounting software maker, Yayoi Co to Japanese financial services provider, Orix Corp for 80 billion yen ($691 million). In September 2015,

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

sold its South Korean business,

, to MBKP,

CPPIB The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB; french: Office d'investissement du régime de pensions du Canada), operating as CPP Investments (french: Investissements RPC), is a Canadian Crown corporation established by way of the 1997 ''Can ...

and

Temasek Holdings Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, or simply Temasek, is a Singaporean state holding company owned by the Government of Singapore. Incorporated on 25 June 1974, Temasek owns and manages a total of US$496.59 billion (S$671 billion) in assets u ...

for £4 billion. In October 2016, MBKP and

TPG Capital TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American investment company based in Fort Worth, Texas. The private equity firm is focused on leveraged buyouts and growth capital. TPG manages investment funds in growth c ...

acquired Wharf T&T from

The Wharf (Holdings) The Wharf (Holdings) Limited (), or Wharf (九倉) in short, is a company founded in 1886 in Hong Kong. As its name suggests, the company's original business was in running wharfage and dockside warehousing, and it was originally known as Th ...

for HK$9.5 billion ($1.2 billion). In August 2018, Wharf T&T was sold to Hong Kong's telecom operator

for HK$10.5 billion ($1.34 billion). In February 2019, MBKP acquired

Godiva Chocolatier Godiva Chocolatier (; ) is a Belgian-based international chocolate maker which is owned by Turkish conglomerate Yıldız Holding Founded in 1926, it was purchased by Turkish Yıldız Holding in November 2007. In 2019, South Korean private equity ...

's Asian-Pacific operations for $1.5 billion.

References

External links

* {{Private equity and venture capital Alternative investment management companies Private equity firms of Asia-Pacific Financial services companies established in 2005 South Korean companies established in 2005 Companies based in Seoul Investment management companies of South Korea