Affirma taps NPS executive as private credit head

Singapore-based private equity firm Affirma Capital has founded an affiliate for private credit management and tapped Kim Seong-mok, a former executive at South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS), as the head of the new affiliate.

The PE firm, which has been focusing on buyout deals, will diversify investment strategies through the new affiliate, investment banking sources said on Tuesday.

Born in 1975, Kim studied mechanical engineering at Seoul National University and earned a Master's of Engineering Management (MEM) from Dartmouth College in the US. He joined the alternative investment division at Hyundai Securities Co. in 2006, which was merged into KB Investment & Securities Co. in 2017. At NPS, Kim worked for the alternative investment risk management team for seven years from 2015.

Affirma Capital will focus on mezzanine strategies while expanding secondary investments and single-asset continuation fund investments. Continuation funds are becoming more popular in the global PE industry as general partners and their investors can hold on to the investment portfolios longer. 

A revised version of the Financial Investment Service and Capital Market Act came into effect last October to allow more private debt investment in Korea. Accordingly, local private equity firms are increasingly establishing private credit affiliates.

IMM Private Equity launched IMM Credit & Solutions (ICS) in late 2020, nearly a year before the implementation of the revised Act. The credit investment arm acquired a 40% stake in SK Lubricants Co. for 1 trillion won ($783.4 million), SK Group’s lube-making unit, in April 2021. In March of this year, IMM ICS acquired 100 billion won worth of convertible preferred shares in W Concept, a leading fashion app in Korea.

Glenwood PE also launched Glenwood Credit in September 2021. Last November, the credit unit and GS Engineering & Construction Co. jointly acquired a 60% stake in S&I Construction and Engineering under S&I Corporation, a subsidiary of Korean conglomerate LG Group, for 400 billion won. In April, STIC Investments set up an affiliate for private credit investment, aiming to expand its medium-risk and medium-return investments.  

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim at why29@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.