Category Archives: News

Eurazeo invests in CTN Groupe through a sponsorless transaction

Eurazeo

Eurazeo has recently invested in CTN Groupe via its Corporate Financing (Private Debt) business and its Eurazeo Corporate Relance (ECR) and NOVI 2 funds1. The aim of this new transaction is to continue and accelerate the company’s development.

CTN Groupe is a major player in the events industry. For more than 40 years, it has been designing and distributing decoration products and solutions (walls, ceilings, floors etc.) for a wide array of events. The group has 12,000 product lines and operates via an optimised, efficient logistics network that enables it to deliver most products on a next-day basis.

CTN Groupe has gradually diversified its business into adjacent sectors through the successful acquisitions of Bâches de France and Like Mirror, and through geographical expansion into the UK and Belgium.

CTN Groupe will pursue the development plan inspired by Olivier Langlois since his arrival in 2019. The plan mainly involves implementing a strategy based on profitable sales growth, digital transformation, CSR and acquisitions, between now and 2027.

Eurazeo now has carried out a €22.0 million sponsorless transaction to allow Indigo Capital to exit and to pass ownership to a new generation of operational managers, while allowing CTN Groupe to pursue organic growth and acquisitions in its core businesses.

In this transaction, CTN Groupe and the investors were accompanied by the group’s long-standing banking partners (BNP Paribas, LCL, CIC, La Banque Postale and BPI) as part of a refinancing of the company’s debt.

This is the fifth investment made by Eurazeo’s ECR fund since it was launched in 2022.

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GIC Invests in Aichi Logistics Facility Developed by Daiwa House Industry

GIC

Singapore/Tokyo, 20 July 2023 – GIC, a leading global investment firm, announces that it will acquire a logistics facility in Yatomi city, part of the Greater Nagoya metropolitan area. The asset is well‐located in a logistics hub near a major expressway and provides convenient access to the Nagoya central business district and other surrounding regions.

The warehouse was developed and completed in 2022 by Daiwa House Industry, a top class Japanese real estate developer engaged in various asset classes including logistics, residential, office, and retail. As a young and modern asset, the facility is attractive to a wide range of tenants serving both the regional local and regional areas.

 

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Egeria enters into a new partnership with Sonic Equipment

Egeria

19 July, 2023 – Egeria is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to acquire Sonic Equipment (“Sonic” or “the Company”), a global specialist in professional hand tools, filled toolboxes and premium storage solutions.

Egeria is acquiring a majority stake from Torqx Capital Partners (“Torqx”) alongside management who will be reinvesting. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Sonic is a global specialist in professional hand tools, filled toolboxes and premium storage solutions, founded in 2004 by Remko Papenburg and Niels Veldt. In 2019, the founders partnered with Torqx to accelerate growth through international expansion. Over the past four years Sonic has doubled in size, entered multiple new countries and has set up an effective marketing strategy with a differentiated customer approach. Today it has established a leading brand position in more than 65 countries worldwide, with local teams, warehouses and showrooms in the Netherlands (HQ), Germany, Austria, France, Taiwan, Italy and the USA.

Under the current management team, consisting of founder and CEO Remko Papenburg, CFO Freddy Peeters and CCO Gerben de Jong, Sonic has a track record of strong international growth by delivering efficiency, style and support to professionals worldwide. Sonic empowers them to excel in their daily jobs and achieve great success and satisfaction. Going forward, management will continue to drive the success and growth of Sonic in partnership with Egeria.

REMKO PAPENBURG, FOUNDER AND CEO AT SONIC EQUIPMENT:
“We look forward to the next chapter which will see us working closely together with the team of Egeria to continue full throttle. With their support, we aim to realize our ambitious growth plans through organic initiatives and M&A. I would also like to use the opportunity to thank Torqx. We are grateful for the support that Torqx has provided us with over the past years.”

SANDER VAN KEKEN, PARTNER AT EGERIA:
“We are impressed by Sonic’s entrepreneurship, growth track record and unique value proposition in the tools market. We strongly believe in the further international growth potential of the Sonic brand and product offering in the years to come and very much look forward to collaborate with Remko and the team to develop Sonic further.”

DAVID VAN HASSELT, PARTNER AT TORQX CAPITAL PARTNERS:
“Over the last years, Sonic has shown an impressive, international growth trajectory with its differentiating brand, customer oriented proposition, and high quality products. It has been an honor to support management in the value creation for Sonic and develop the Company into the strong player it is today. We would like to thank management and the entire Sonic team for the very pleasant, entrepreneurial and successful partnership. We still see endless opportunities for Sonic and are looking forward to following Sonic’s successes closely with their new partner Egeria.”

For this transaction, Lincoln International acted as corporate finance advisor to the sellers, Houthoff acted as legal advisor, Deloitte provided the financial and tax vendor due diligence and Roland Berger assisted in vendor commercial due diligence. Egeria was advised by Boston Consulting Group on their commercial due diligence, EY performed the financial & tax due diligence, Allen&Overy acted as legal advisor and DC Advisory as financial advisor.

ABOUT
Egeria
Established in 1997, Egeria is an independent Dutch investment company focused on mid-sized companies in the Netherlands and DACH region. Egeria invests in healthy businesses and believes in building businesses jointly with entrepreneurial management teams (Boldly Building Together). Egeria Private Equity Funds has interests in 15 companies in the Netherlands and Germany, while Egeria Evergreen has investments in 7 companies. Egeria’s portfolio companies generate combined revenues of more than EUR 2 billion and employ more than 12,000 people.

Sonic
Sonic is a leading global specialist in the development, marketing and distribution of professional hand tools and storage solution systems. Founded in 2004 by Remko Papenburg and Niels Veldt, Sonic today extends across the global market, having achieved strong and consistent growth since its inception. With an innovative and complete product range of 6,000+ high-quality tools & storage systems, Sonic improves the efficiency, image, ergonomics and productivity of thousands of professionals in over 65 countries across the globe. Sonic is known for its exceptional value proposition, unique branding and highly customer-oriented approach. The Company has office facilities and warehouses in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, France, Taiwan, Italy and the USA. Sonic employs c.80 FTE. For more information please visit www.sonic-equipment.com.

Torqx
Torqx invests in medium-sized companies with significant value creation potential. Situations include growth-, buyand-build-, performance improvement-, turnaround- and transformational investments across a range of industries including manufacturing, distribution and services. Torqx acquires majority positions based on a partnership with co-shareholders and management teams, offering the companies smart capital, network, expertise and talent to support implementation of their plans and achieve their full potential. The Torqx team consists of 15 highly experienced and skilled investment professionals who look beyond spreadsheets and understand what it takes to build businesses and increase momentum. Torqx currently manages over € 380 million in committed capital and is backed by reputable international institutional investors and the Torqx team itself. For more information please visit www.torqxcapital.com.

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Existing Investors Double Down on o9 Solutions’ Growth With Incremental Investment at $3.7 Billion Valuation

KKR

Latest investment round of $116 Million led by General Atlantic’s BeyondNetZero

o9 announces 55% YOY increase in Annual Recurring Revenue as of Q2 2023;

Adds experienced operating executive Gary Reiner to its Board

DALLAS, July 19, 2023 –  o9 Solutions, a leading enterprise AI software platform provider for transforming planning and decision-making for global enterprises, today announced that its existing investors, led by General Atlantic’s BeyondNetZero the inaugural companion fund for the growth equity firm’s climate investing efforts, have invested an additional $116 million in the Company. Existing investors KKR and Generation Investment Management also participated in the round. The investment values o9 at $3.7 billion, up from $2.7 billion since the Company’s last investment round in January 2022.

The investment follows a period of continued outperformance by o9, including 55% year-over-year growth in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) as of Q2’23. The Company also reported 67% year-over-year ARR growth as of Q1’23 and 65% growth in 2022.

In conjunction with the transaction, o9 also announced that General Atlantic Operating Partner and tenured business executive Gary Reiner has joined the Company’s Board of Directors, bringing deep expertise at the intersection of technology, strategy and operations. Mr. Reiner joined General Atlantic in 2010 and provides strategic support and counsel to the firm’s technology investment teams and portfolio companies. Prior to joining General Atlantic, Mr. Reiner served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at General Electric for nearly 20 years. Prior to that, he was a Partner with The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Reiner also serves on the boards of several public companies, including Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Citigroup.

“We continue to be thrilled with o9’s terrific customer value proposition, offering truly material and measurable outcomes relative to traditional planning software vendors and thereby providing strong blue chip client satisfaction,” said Gary Reiner, Operating Partner at General Atlantic. “Since we first partnered with o9 in early 2022, the Company has helped deliver significant revenue growth, working capital improvements and expense reductions for many large global enterprises. Our deepened support of o9 reflects the enthusiasm we have for the business and its seasoned management team, particularly as their innovative model supports the transition to more sustainable supply chains across the enterprise. We look forward to our continued partnership.”

“The investment by our existing investors at a premium to our last funding round and against a backdrop of an overall pullback in market valuations is continued validation of our performance and execution against our long-term strategy. We will continue our strategy of client satisfaction and innovation as a driver of efficient growth across industry verticals and markets.”

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365 Business Finance Boost funding capacity with increase to senior secured facility with Pollen Street

Pollenstreet

365 Business Finance and Pollen Street Capital (“Pollen Street”) have successfully completed a 40% increase to Pollen Street’s senior secured credit facility boosting 365 Business Finance’s funding capacity to support SMEs across the UK.

The London-based provider of revenue-based finance has already seen significant growth in demand, with 141% year-on-year increase in the amount funded to UK SMEs. 365 Business Finance’s proprietary technology platform and unique automatic collections process have enabled it to maintain market-leading credit performance and record levels of origination. The increased facility has also enabled the company to increase its maximum individual advance from £300k to £400k.

“We’ve seen incredible levels of growth in the past year, with thousands of businesses looking to our revenue-based funding solution to help their businesses thrive during this challenging period of economic uncertainty and high interest rates,” said Andrew Raphaely, 365 Business Finance Managing Director. “Our flexible repayments solution, which matches our customers’ cashflow, market-leading customer service and fully-automated collections technology have enabled us to become a leading provider of unsecured finance to the retail, hospitality and online sectors.

“We’re delighted to build on our long-standing relationship with Pollen Street. Our increased credit facility will enable us to more than double our levels of funding to UK SMEs over the next 12 months.”

Michael Katramados, Partner, Pollen Street, said, “We are delighted to build on our strong relationship with 365 which started in 2018, increasing our facility to support them as they grow. Through this facility our financing will continue to support SMEs across the UK, aligning with our commitment to generating a positive impact through the work that we do.”

365 Business Finance has grown significantly and is originating at its fastest pace ever while performance and cash collections remain strong. The business has seen headcount grow by 50% in the past 12 months and recently opened a brand-new office in Finchley Road.

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Bain Capital Closes Inaugural Insurance Fund at $1.15 Billion

BainCapital

Bain Capital Closes Inaugural Insurance Fund at $1.15 Billion

BOSTON – July 19, 2023 – Bain Capital Insurance, the insurance investing business of Bain Capital, today announced the final close of its inaugural private equity fund, Bain Capital Insurance Fund, L.P. at $1.15 billion, above its initial target of $750 million.  The fund includes approximately $1 billion of outside commitments from institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals and families. Bain Capital employees committed the balance of the fund, continuing the firm’s heritage of being the largest investor collectively across its funds.

Bain Capital Insurance Fund is focused on middle market transactions in North America and Europe across the entire insurance value chain and draws on Bain Capital’s core capabilities of finding investment opportunities in highly complex, fragmented markets. The investment strategy is concentrated on three core areas:

  • corporate transformations, such as management partnerships, carve-outs, and turnarounds
  • launching and building new insurance platforms; and
  • inflection or event-driven investments driven by supply/demand imbalances, evolving business models, and shifting industry trends.

“This significant milestone reflects the enthusiasm and trust of our investors, the relationships we’ve built with business leaders and entrepreneurs across the industry, and the significant opportunities we see to drive value across the complex insurance value chain,” said Matt Popoli, Partner and Global Head of Bain Capital Insurance. “We’ve built a scaled team of insurance investing experts, deep researched-backed themes, and the value creation approach to embrace that complexity, all supported by the global and platform advantages of the integrated Bain Capital platform.”

Bain Capital Insurance was formally launched in 2021 as a new business unit dedicated to capturing the significant opportunities available in the $27 trillion global insurance sector.  Popoli leads an experienced group of ~20 specialized professionals – one of the largest dedicated insurance investing teams in the private equity industry.

Bain Capital Insurance has executed several investments that are emblematic of its strategy.  In June, the firm announced an investment in Aptia, a newly formed business created by the purchase of U.S. employee benefits administration and U.K. pension administration businesses of March McLennan (NYSE: MMC).  It also previously launched Summitas Gruppe, an innovative German insurance brokerage platform, in partnership with JDC Group and Canada Life Irish Holding Co, and Enhance Health, a technology-enabled health insurance brokerage and care navigation platform serving the individual and family medical plan market.

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About Bain Capital Insurance

Bain Capital Insurance is the dedicated insurance investing business of Bain Capital, a leading global private investment firm with over $165 billion under management across 24 offices on four continents.  We seek to collaborate with leading insurance businesses and management teams to unlock value and drive innovation across the insurance industry, specializing in insurance investing strategies that span the entire value chain and growth spectrum – from catalyzing transformational change, creating new platforms, and stepping into capacity-driven dislocations, to partnering with industry participants to meet their long term strategic and investment return targets.  Learn more at www.baincapitalinsurance.com.

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AEVIS VICTORIA SA – Visana Beteiligungen AG becomes a shareholder of Swiss Medical Network SA

Aevis Victoria
uly 11, 2023 | 7:00 am CEST
Ad Hoc

AEVIS VICTORIA SA / Key word(s): Agreement

11-Jul-2023 / 07:00 CET/CEST

Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

Fribourg, 11 July 2023

AEVIS VICTORIA SA (AEVS.SW) – Visana Beteiligungen AG becomes a shareholder of Swiss Medical Network SA

AEVIS VICTORIA SA (AEVIS) announces that Visana Beteiligungen AG participated in a capital increase of Swiss Medical Network SA and subscribed to 2’500’000 registered shares at a price of CHF 60 per share. Following this transaction, AEVIS will directly and indirectly hold 80% of Swiss Medical Network, MPT (Medical Properties Trust) 8.9% and Visana Beteiligungen 11.1%. This transaction strengthens the consolidated equity of AEVIS and Swiss Medical Network and will support the company’s development.

For further information:
AEVIS VICTORIA SA Media and Investor Relations: c/o Dynamics Group, Zurich
Philippe R. Blangey, prb@dynamicsgroup.ch, +41 (0) 43 268 32 35 or +41 (0) 79 785 46 32
Séverine Van der Schueren, svanderschueren@aevis.com, +41 (0) 79 635 04 10 

AEVIS VICTORIA SA – Investing for a better life
AEVIS VICTORIA SA invests in healthcare, hospitality & lifestyle and infrastructure. AEVIS′s main shareholdings are Swiss Medical Network SA (80%, directly and indirectly), the only Swiss private network of hospitals present in the country’s three main language regions, Victoria-Jungfrau AG, a luxury hotel group managing eleven luxury hotels in Switzerland and abroad, Infracore SA (30%, directly and indirectly), a real estate company dedicated to healthcare-related infrastructure, Swiss Hotel Properties SA, a hospitality real estate division, and NESCENS SA, a brand dedicated to better aging. AEVIS is listed on the Swiss Reporting Standard of the SIX Swiss Exchange (AEVS.SW). www.aevis.com.

 

End of Inside Information

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Torqx Capital Partners announces the sale of Sonic Equipment to Egeria

Torqx Capital

Torqx Capital Partners (“Torqx”) is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement to sell its majority stake in Sonic Equipment (“Sonic” or “the Company”), to EGERIA, an independent Dutch investment company focused on mid-sized companies in the Netherlands and DACH region.

Sonic is a global specialist in professional hand tools, filled toolboxes and premium storage solutions, founded in 2004 by Remko Papenburg and Niels Veldt. In 2019, the founders partnered with Torqx to accelerate growth through international expansion. Over the past four years Sonic has doubled in size, entered multiple new countries and has set up an effective marketing strategy with a differentiated customer approach. Today it has established a leading brand position in more than 65 countries worldwide, with local teams, warehouses and showrooms in the Netherlands (HQ), Germany, Austria, France, Taiwan, Italy and the USA.

Under the current management team, consisting of founder and CEO Remko Papenburg, CFO Freddy Peeters and CCO Gerben de Jong, Sonic has a track record of strong international growth by delivering efficiency, style and support to professionals worldwide. Sonic empowers them to excel in their daily jobs and achieve great success and satisfaction. Going forward, management will continue to drive the success and growth of Sonic in partnership with Egeria.

Remko Papenburg, Founder and CEO at Sonic Equipment: “We look forward to the next chapter which will see us working closely together with the team of Egeria to continue full throttle. With their support, we aim to realize our ambitious growth plans through organic initiatives and M&A. I would also like to use the opportunity to thank Torqx. We are grateful for the support that Torqx has provided us with over the past years.”

David van Hasselt, Partner at Torqx Capital Partners: “Over the last years, Sonic has shown an impressive, international growth trajectory with its differentiating brand, customer oriented proposition, and high quality products. It has been an honor to support management in the value creation for Sonic and develop the Company into the strong player it is today. We would like to thank management and the entire Sonic team for the very pleasant, entrepreneurial and successful partnership. We still see endless opportunities for Sonic and are looking forward to following Sonic’s successes closely with their new partner Egeria.”

Sander van Keken, Partner at Egeria: “We are impressed by Sonic’s entrepreneurship, growth track record and unique value proposition in the tools market. We strongly believe in the further international growth potential of the Sonic brand and product offering in the years to come and very much look forward to collaborate with Remko and the team to develop Sonic further.”

For this transaction, Lincoln International acted as corporate finance advisor to the sellers, Houthoff acted as legal advisor, Deloitte provided the financial and tax vendor due diligence and Roland Berger assisted in vendor commercial due diligence. Egeria was advised by Boston Consulting Group on their commercial due diligence, EY on financial & tax due diligence, Allen&Overy acted as legal advisor and DC Advisory as financial advisor.

About Sonic
Sonic is a leading global specialist in the development, marketing and distribution of professional hand tools and storage solution systems. Founded in 2004 by Remko Papenburg and Niels Veldt, Sonic today extends across the global market, having achieved strong and consistent growth since its inception. With an innovative and complete product range of 6,000+ high-quality tools & storage systems, Sonic improves the efficiency, image, ergonomics and productivity of thousands of professionals in over 65 countries across the globe. Sonic is known for its exceptional value proposition, unique branding and highly customer-oriented approach. The Company has office facilities and warehouses in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, France, Taiwan, Italy and the USA. Sonic employs c. 80 FTE. For more information please visit www.sonic-equipment.com.

About Egeria
Established in 1997, Egeria is an independent Dutch investment company focused on mid-sized companies in the Netherlands and DACH region. Egeria invests in healthy businesses and believes in building businesses jointly with entrepreneurial management teams (Boldly Building Together). Egeria Private Equity Funds has interests in 15 companies in the Netherlands and Germany, while Egeria Evergreen has investments in 7 companies. Egeria’s portfolio companies generate combined revenues of more than EUR 2 billion and employ more than 12,000 people. For more information, visit www.egeriagroup.com

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DIF Capital Partners leads €250 million+ funding round to expand Valoo’s Finnish fibre rollout

DIF

Investment will bring fibre connectivity to 300,000 Finnish households

DIF Capital Partners (“DIF”) is pleased to announce that it is leading a debt and equity funding round worth in excess of €250 million for Valoo (Adola Oy), which will help it expand its optical fibre rollout to underserved regions and municipalities in Finland. DIF’s equity investment is made through its CIF III fund. The funding is a follow-up to the initial investment made by DIF’s CIF I fund which supported the first part of the growth trajectory of the company.

While DIF acts as the lead investor, the funding round is also backed by Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) and other investors. Senior debt has been provided by a banking group of SEB, NORD/LB and NIBC.

The funding will allow delivery of long-awaited high-speed fibre connectivity to areas that to date have had to rely mainly on mobile connectivity for internet access. The package will bring fibre to over 300,000 households and secure close to 1,000 jobs within the company and the wider market.

Valoo builds and operates fibre-optic networks across Finland. It does not charge customers for the construction of network connections to their homes, instead basing its business model on long-term customer relationships to provide internet services.

Valoo is set to continue its evolution into Finland’s leading platform for fibre connectivity, thanks to its expanding footprint and a strong national brand. The investment will also help to create the conditions for a future wholesale fibre access market in Finland, strengthening consumer choice. This will allow multiple operators to connect to their consumers through a single infrastructure.

DIF Capital Partners is an independent global infrastructure fund manager and a leading investor in optical fibre rollouts, having funded major projects in Canada, Germany, France, the UK and the USA among others.

“Our follow-up investment in Valoo enables it to connect a much larger number of underserved areas in Finland to fibre broadband infrastructure,” says Willem Jansonius, Partner and Head of CIF Investments at DIF Capital Partners.

“Finnish households have long struggled to access state-of-the-art broadband connectivity, especially outside of major urban areas. That shortfall was highlighted during the lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic. This investment will provide a significant improvement to those people’s and communities’ ability to work and participate in the global digital economy.”

“DIF’s investment in Valoo further underscores our position as a major investor in the Finnish market and our continued focus on digital infrastructure across Europe and North America. It’s also a vote of confidence in the successful transformation of Valoo’s business over recent years.”

 

About DIF Capital Partners

DIF Capital Partners is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with ca. EUR 16 billion of AUM. DIF was founded in 2005 and has built a leading position in managing mid-market investments, primarily in Europe, North America and Australia.

DIF follows two strategies: its traditional DIF funds invest in lower risk mid-sized infrastructure projects and companies in the energy transition (incl. renewables) and utilities sector, as well as PPPs and concessions. The firm’s CIF funds invest in small to mid-sized companies that will thrive in the new economy. These companies are typically active in the digital, energy transition and sustainable transportation sector.

With a team of over 225 professionals in 11 offices, DIF Capital Partners offers a unique market approach combining global presence with the benefits of strong local networks and investment capabilities. DIF is located in Amsterdam (Schiphol), Frankfurt, Helsinki, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, New York, Paris, Santiago, Sydney and Toronto.

For more information, please visit www.dif.eu

 

Contact DIF Capital Partners: press@dif.eu

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KKR Leads US$190 million Series C Round in Leading Korean Online Platform MUSINSA

KKR

ransaction includes participation from Wellington Management

SEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)– MUSINSA, an online fashion platform in South Korea, and KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced the signing of definitive agreements under which funds managed by KKR will lead the US$190 million Series C fundraise of MUSINSA (the “Company”), with participation from Wellington Management, one of the world’s largest independent investment management firms.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230713401193/en/

Founded in 2001 as an online sneaker community, MUSINSA is today an online fashion marketplace in South Korea that features more than 8,000 local and foreign designer brands and an in-house brand (musinsa standard), anchoring the creator economy for fashion in South Korea. Over the years, MUSINSA has expanded to include a comprehensive ecosystem including communities, a brand incubator (MUSINSA PARTNERS), a direct-to-consumer brand operator, and an offline multicultural lounge (musinsa terrace) that allows for offline interactions with its customers and provides online-based fashion brands with a physical space for pop-up stores. In 2023, Fast Company named MUSINSA as among the “10 most innovative Asia Pacific companies of 2023” for “globalizing K-fashion.”1

This transaction marks KKR’s first technology growth investment in Korea as part of its Asia Next Generation Technology (“NGT”) strategy, which seeks to support the growth of innovative, disruptive companies in Asia Pacific across key themes, including software, consumer technology and FinTech.

Mukul Chawla, Partner and Head of Growth Equity, Asia Pacific for KKR, said, “MUSINSA has developed itself as a top consumer Internet platform in Korea and a differentiated marketplace by its ability to scale rising brands, enable the creator economy for fashion, engage and provide a high-quality e-commerce experience for customers. We see enormous opportunity for MUSINSA to build on its leading position in a fast-growing K-fashion market that continues to shift online and expand globally on the back of K-culture’s explosive reach. We are excited to partner with the management team and look to leverage KKR’s global network, operational expertise, and deep technology experience to take MUSINSA to its next phase of growth.”

Munil Han, CEO of MUSINSA, said, “We are delighted to welcome global investors of KKR and Wellington’s caliber, which we see as a recognition of the quality of MUSINSA’s platform, and the potential of the Korean online fashion market. With this latest investment, MUSINSA looks to continue scaling our platform and creating new standards of success in the online and offline markets with domestic and foreign brands.”

This Series C is the Company’s third fundraise and follows its successful KRW 130 billion won Series B round in 2021 and KRW 100 billion won Series A round in 2019.

KKR makes its investment as part of its Asia NGT strategy and from funds managed by KKR. Other investments from the strategy include Lenskart, an omni-channel eyewear retailer in India; Advanced Navigation, a developer of AI-powered robotics and navigation technology in Australia; Privy, a digital identity provider in Indonesia; GrowSari, a business-to-business e-commerce platform serving small-and-medium enterprises (“SMEs”) in the Philippines; KiotViet, a software platform for SMEs in Vietnam; and NetStars, the operator of Japan’s largest QR code payment gateway. Additional details of the transaction were not disclosed.

****

About MUSINSA
MUSINSA is one of the largest online and offline fashion business companies in Korea, and offers more than 8,000 domestic and foreign brands, including young casual, street, contemporary, formal, sports, and luxury, etc. The company has more than 13 million members and recorded annual GMV of more than KRW 3 trillion won (US$2.35 billion) as of 2022. MUSINSA strives to expand the diversity of the fashion ecosystem based on the core value that the success of partner brands is our success. The company operates a fashion-specialized venture capital subsidiary to energize new brands with great potential to take a step forward in growth. MUSINSA has a diverse business portfolio, including its core service Musinsa Store, online lifestyle select shop 29CM, online re-sell platform soldout, and in-house fashion brand musinsa standard. Currently, MUSINSA, which has unrivaled influence as the No. 1 in the online fashion market in Korea, is concentrating on strengthening its capabilities to exert itself in the offline fashion business as well. MUSINSA is also operating a ‘global store’ that is available in 13 overseas countries, including Asia, America, and Oceania, to help small and medium-sized Korean brands advance overseas and to provide a point of contact for meeting global customers who are interested in Korean fashion. Since investing in the Envisioning Climate Solution Fund, MUSINSA has continuously paid attention to various social issues, including climate change, and is concentrating on fulfilling its social responsibilities as Korea’s leading fashion company.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life, and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About Wellington Management
Wellington Management is one of the world’s largest independent investment management firms, serving as a trusted adviser to over 2,500 clients in more than 60 countries. The firm manages more than US$1 trillion for clients, including pensions, endowments and foundations, insurers, and global wealth managers. Wellington offers investment solutions that span global equity, fixed income, currency, commodity, alternatives, and private markets. Wellington Private Investing has raised nearly US$8 billion in global assets and invests in early-stage venture through late-stage growth across multiple sectors (consumer, technology, health care, financial services, biotechnology, and climate technology) and geographies (Asia, Europe, and the Americas). The Private Investing Team leverages Wellington’s 1,000+ investment professionals around the world, combining deep private market experience with public market expertise, extensive networks, and robust research to benefit both investors and entrepreneurs. For more on Wellington Private Investing, please visit wellington.com/privateinvesting.

1 Fast Company (February 2023). The 10 most innovative Asia-Pacific companies of 2023.

Media

For MUSINSA:
MUSINSA Public Relations Team
+82 10 8921 8381
team-pr@musinsa.com

For KKR:
Wei Jun Ong
+65 6922 5813
WeiJun.Ong@kkr.com

For Wellington Management:
Robyn Tice
617 289 6739
rtice@wellington.com

Source: KKR

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