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 typ ...

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 p ...

. 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, Japan 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 Delta i ...

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

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 flowin ...

and

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

Funds

Notable investments

* Godiva Japan * HKBN * Homeplus * ING Life Korea * K Bank *

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

* Wharf T&T

Notable transactions

In May 2009, MBKP and Goldman Sachs acquired a 98.3% stake in

for 1.4 billion. In August 2013, MBKP acquired ING'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 corporation, 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 an ...

sold its South Korean business, Homeplus, to MBKP, CPPIB 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 ...

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 HKBN 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