South Korea’s leading semiconductor equipment supplier Hanmi Semiconductor Co. said on Wednesday that it will receive an additional investment from Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and chairman of Palantir Technologies who made a 37 billion won investment in the Korean company in 2013 for the first time.

Hanmi Semiconductor disclosed in a regulatory filing that it will issue 37.5 billion won ($33 million) worth of convertible bonds that will mature on 23 September 2022, and Thiel-backed Crescendo Equity Partners, a Korea-focused private equity firm, and CEP Semicon Holdings Ltd. will invest 75 billion won and 300 billion won in the CBs, respectively. To issue CBs, Hanmi Semiconductor will sell 2.5 million treasury stocks at 15,000 won a piece on 23 September, the Korean company said in a separate filing. Its stocks jumped 4.5 percent, or 650 won, to 15,200 won on Wednesday.

Hanmi Semiconductor CEO and Vice Chairman Kwak Dong-shin said that Thiel’s global network and Hanmi Semiconductor’s technology will create a great synergy, and the proceeds will be used to invest in the company’s research and development area to make the company more competitive.

Founded in 1980, Hanmi Semiconductor provides semiconductor equipment to about 270 customers around the world. The Korean company was ranked as one of the top 10 semiconductor equipment companies by U.S. research firm VLSI Research in its June global semiconductor equipment customer satisfaction survey.

Thiel has invested in Korean firms through Crescendo Equity. In August of last year, he acquired a 20 percent interest in Seojin System for 20.3 billion won. In June 2013, he invested 37 billion won in Hanmi Semiconductor, achieving an internal rate of return of 40 percent within a year. In April 2014, he acquired Model Solution, a Korean metal model company, for about 80 billion won in cooperation with a British IT company.

By Kim Dae-ghi

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