Tikehau Capital Korea wins GP license to boost Asian operations

Tikehau Capital, a Paris-headquartered global alternative asset management group, is working hard to expand growth and its operating capacity in Asia with a strengthened set-up in Seoul.

This year marked the fifth anniversary of Tikehau Capital’s Seoul office. In July, the group acquired a private equity general partner license in Korea to target local institutional investors.

With the GP license in place, the Seoul office is entering a new growth phase that will facilitate its bringing a broad range of private market investment capabilities into the country, including its climate private equity and real estate expertise.

Under the leadership of Moon Young-joon, head of the Korea office, the asset management group has received commitments to its private debt funds from more than 15 Korean investors since 2017. Total capital commitments exceed €500 million.

Tikehau is now making even stronger efforts to further enhance its asset management capabilities networks in Korea.

The group hired Simon (Sang Cheol) Jeong as a senior advisor of the Seoul office at the end of 2021. Jeong worked for more than 20 years in the asset management arm of Samsung Life Insurance Co.

He served as different executive roles in asset allocation, portfolio management, alternative investment, credit analysis and commercial loan business at the insurer. His knowledge of the alternative asset management industry and extended network will be key to sourcing opportunities in the country, the group said.

FAST-GROWING PRESENCE IN ASIA

The group is backed by some major limited partners and strategic shareholders in Asia, including Temasek, T&D and City Developments Ltd. (CDL), and has achieved key milestones in the region.

In 2016, Tikehau took a majority stake in Singapore-based real estate investor IREIT Global Group Pte. Ltd. and a minority stake in its real estate investment trust IREIT Global, which is listed in the Southeast Asian city and focuses on the European real estate market.

In 2019, Tikehau joined forces with CDL, a major Singaporean real estate developer, and increased its stake in IREIT Global to support the firm in its next growth and development chapter, drawing on both players' resources, expertise and Tikehau’s strong European network.

Last year, Tikehau entered into a strategic partnership with Foundation PE, a founder-operated private equity player that specializes in delivering innovative secondary solutions to GPs and LPs across Asia. 

Headquartered in Singapore, Foundation PE has a presence in Beijing and Mumbai. Tikehau Capital also manages Asian fund of funds strategies from Singapore.

In January of this year, Pegasus Asia, Tikehau Capital’s third globally sponsored special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and the first SPAC listed in Singapore, raised $S150 million in its IPO. Pegasus Asia focuses on businesses in technology-enabled sectors in the Asia Pacific.

Tikehau will further accelerate its operations in Asia, the group said during its Capital Markets Day held in London in March. It will continue to expand its Asian private debt capabilities as well as its private equity secondary strategy, with the local teams looking for potential acquisitions and new partnerships, especially in the energy transition field.

Founded in 2004, Tikehau Capital is managing €36.8 billion in assets as of June 30, 2022. It has developed a wide range of expertise across private debt, real assets, private equity and capital markets strategies, as well as multi-asset and special opportunities strategies.

Deeply rooted in the real economy, the investment group provides bespoke alternative financing solutions to companies it invests in and seeks to create long-term value for its investors.

Leveraging its strong equity base, €3.1 billion of shareholders’ equity as of June 30, the firm invests its own capital alongside its investor-clients' within each of its strategies.

Write to Jihyun Kim at snowy@hankyung.com
Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.