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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] The National Pension Service (NPS) has decided not to invest in MBK Partners' hostile mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities and plans to reflect this stance in future private equity fund (PEF) agreements.
On Monday, NPS announced that it had finalized a contract in February related to MBK Partners' blind fund, which includes a clause stating that it would not participate in hostile M&A investments. This decision follows a series of issues, including the management dispute at Korea Zinc and the recent corporate rehabilitation filing by Homeplus. NPS clarified that it had committed to additional funding for a new fund last month, despite these developments.
NPS emphasized that it would not support MBK Partners' investment in contentious situations like the Korea Zinc dispute, even if the firm requests their participation. This policy will also apply to future investments. A representative from NPS stated, "We are considering reflecting this policy in the articles of association and contracts for the PEFs the fund will invest in going forward."
According to investment banking sources, NPS selected MBK Partners and three other firms as domestic private equity fund managers in July of last year. While final contracts are usually signed within 2-3 months of the selection, NPS closely monitored MBK Partners due to its ongoing management dispute with Korea Zinc. After a delay of over seven months, NPS agreed to invest approximately 300 billion KRW in the fund.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
