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Park Byung-moo, the former CEO of Hanaroteleco, returned to the private equity industry as a partner of Vogo Fund. His joining as a partner will be a boost for Vogo’s ambitious expansion plan, as the fund just submitted a bid to buy Woori Financial Group, the second largest banking group in Korea, and plans to buy a few more companies soon.
Park was a corporate lawyer before working for the American private equity firm TPG. He earned bad publicity when he led the restructuring of Hanarotelecom as CEO, which had been bought by a consortium of several American funds and sold to SK Telecom in 2008 at a hefty profit.
“I know I had been called as a cat’s paw of foreign capital,” he said, referring to the claims that he has been used by foreign speculative capital. “That is part of the reason why I joined Vogo, an indigenous fund, this time. Vogo will remain as a Korean fund,” he said during a press conference on Thursday in Yeoido, Seoul.
He also said that Vogo will raise a “blind fund” next year mostly from foreign investors. The size of the fund is yet to be decided, but it will be used to buy firms “blindly” ― without asking permission from investors, unlike its current portfolio, which is company-specific.
Park also said that Vogo will be able to easily raise the necessary funds required to buy Woori Financial, if it manages to beat 10 other competitors. “If the conditions are fine, then raising the money won’t be a problem,” he said.
At 49, Park is one of the rare managers in Korea who has hands-on experience in both the financing and the operational aspects of business. He was a lawyer specialized in mergers and acquisitions and restructuring under Kim & Chang, a law firm, and then served as CEO of Hanarotelecom, a telephone and Internet operator, for its largest shareholders, AIG and Newbridge Capital.
His main role at Vogo is to supplement the fund from the operational aspect, he said. None of the three existing partners have experience in managing large companies in industry.
Park will be joining three other partners at Vogo. The captain of the ship is Byeon Yang-ho, a former bureau chief of the finance ministry, who has a wide network in the finance as well as political circles of Korea. Byeon has been engaged in several lawsuits over decisions he made at the finance ministry, but now all the legal charges have been lifted, Vogo will be able to push ahead for more deals, Park said.
Vogo now has five firms in its portfolio. BC Card is the largest credit card payment system operator in Korea. Tong Yang Life Insurance, Novita and Siltron have all seen improved performances since Vogo acquired them, but iriver is still in a financial trouble, Park said. Vogo has been receiving praise as it is one of a few sizable private equity funds in Korea.
Park complained that it is difficult to win long-term commitment from Korean investors, since the private equity industry is still not firmly settled here. Therefore Vogo had no option but to seek investors from abroad for the blind fund which is to be launched next year, he said.
The fund is operated in a Korean style by Korean managers, which makes it qualify as an “indigenous fund,” he said. The fund is also seeking investment opportunities in several Asian countries, China included, said Park.
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