IMM PE exits Woori Financial with double-digit return

IMM Private Equity has divested its remaining 1.38% stake in Woori Financial Group for 166.4 billion won ($115 million), exiting the South Korean financial holding company nine years after its investment.

The Seoul-based private equity firm sold 10,261,893 shares of Woori in a block deal on Jan. 9 for 16,218 won per share, according to investment banking sources on Monday.

In 2016, IMM purchased a 6% stake in the holding company from the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC) for 11,000 won per share, for a total of 446.2 billion won.

It reaped 625.4 billion won in proceeds from the three rounds of stake sales of Woori between 2024 and last week, on top of 180 billion won in dividend income.

That amounts to 2.4 times invested capital and a 13.9% internal rate of return.

The successful divestment will pave the way for the liquidation of its third blind pool fund, which raised 1.26 trillion won in 2015.

In addition to Woori, the fund exited Tailim Packaging Co., HD Hyundai Samho Co. and W Concept., a Korea-based women’s fashion platform, for decent returns.

The fund has also invested in online lender K Bank, car sharing platform Socar Co., cosmetics maker Able C&C and online content platform Kidari Studio Co.

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