Brookfield to name Hahn & Co exec as Korean office head

Brookfield Asset Management Inc. will name Jun Park, a top manager of Seoul-based private equity firm Hahn & Co., as the new head of its South Korean operations, according to financial industry sources.

Park, a Hahn & Co. managing director, has decided to leave the PE firm next month and take over as Brookfield's Korean head around the end of this year, the sources said last week. 

He had joined Hahn & Co. in October 2010 when it was established and spearheaded the acquisition of two Korean bulk transportation companies: H-Line Shipping Co. for 550 billion won in 2014 and a majority stake in SK Shipping Co. for 1.5 trillion won in 2018.

Park was also in charge of Lahan Hotels Co., a combination of five Korean hotel operators acquired by Hahn & Co., including Hotel Hyundai which the PE house took over from Hyundai Heavy Industries Group in 2017.

At Brookfield, he is expected to diversify the Canadian asset management firm's portfolio into corporate finance deals beyond infrastructure and real estate investments, based on his experience in managing shipping, infrastructure and hotel investments.

Prior to joining Hahn & Co., he had worked as a Citigroup analyst between 2009 and 2010. He earned his bachelor's degree in finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Brookfield is the world's largest real estate and infrastructure investment firm with $626 billion in assets under management. Since opening its South Korean office in 2013, it has received over $45 billion in commitments from more than 30 Korean institutional investors, including the National Pension Service.

In 2016, Brookfield acquired the International Finance Center in Yeouido, commonly known as IFC Seoul, for 2.55 trillion won from AIG Group. The complex is comprised of one office building, Conrad Seoul Hotel and IFC Mall.

The acquisition marked the biggest property transaction in South Korea and Brookfield’s first real estate purchase in the country.

Write to Jun-ho Cha at chacha@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.