Company News | FOREST PARTNERS

from craft beer and low-cost airlines to multiplex theaters and semiconductor equipment companies. These are companies discovered firsthand by Han Seung (41), CEO of Forest Partners, a private equity fund (PEF) management firm. Han’s recognition of its potential and initial investment, which planted the “seed,” makes one look forward to abundant “fruits.”

Han Seung, CEO of Forest Partners, is being interviewed by JoongAng Ilbo at his office in Samseong-dong, Seoul. Reporter Kim Kyung-rok

Jeju Beer is experiencing rapid growth as last year’s sales (12 billion won, including tax revenue) increased by more than 400% compared to the previous year. Aero K, a low-cost airline based at Cheongju Airport in Chungbuk, has received approval from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and is preparing to launch flights in January next year.

In a recent interview with JoongAng Ilbo, CEO Han said, “At first, both Jeju Beer and Aero K were told, ‘It won’t work.’ But after going to the sites myself, I realized that such advice was not helpful at all, but rather only hindered things.” He added, “One of our company’s strengths is having close real-time discussions with investors who have entrusted us with money out of affection for startups.”

The current domestic stock investment market is in the "golden age of private equity funds." The total net assets of private equity funds, which stood at 200 trillion won at the end of 2015, surpassed 350 trillion won last month. In particular, providing seed money to promising small and venture companies, increasing their corporate value, and then listing them on the stock market to generate high returns is called the “flower of investment.”

A CEO in his early 40s is a young CEO attracting attention in the industry. He said, “In Korea, when people hear ‘private equity fund,’ they may see it as a ‘corporate raider.’ But investing in startups, growing companies, and creating jobs is something to be proud of.”

Han Seung, CEO of Forest Partners, is posing at his office in Samseong-dong, Seoul. Reporter Kim Kyung-rok

After graduating from the University of Washington School of Law and gaining investment experience on Wall Street and Silicon Valley, CEO Han founded Forest Partners in 2016. He said, “I was influenced by my life mentor, former Tiger Asia Fund CEO Bill Hwang, and developed a desire to be an investor rather than a lawyer. While my experience handling large sums of money in the United States was valuable, I chose independence because I wanted to build my own investment philosophy and culture.”

CEO Han’s investment decisions do not discriminate by industry. In 2017, it also acquired 40 billion won worth of exchangeable bonds (EB) convertible into Megabox shares. The condition is that if they are listed on the stock market by 2021, they will earn capital gains from the price difference, and if not, they will receive their principal and interest. Padura, a company co-invested with the SK Group, developed the core component of computer storage devices, the SSD (controller).

CEO Han said, “Pado is currently being tested in the U.S. market with a prototype that is about twice as good in performance as other semiconductor companies,” adding, “Our long-term goal is to grow it into a ‘unicorn’ with a corporate valuation exceeding 1 trillion won and list it on the U.S. Nasdaq market.”

Reporters Joo Jeong-wan and Jeong Yong-hwan