Korea’s largest private equity fund MBK Partners profited around $4.2 billion from investments in companies ranging from plastic bottle maker and savings bank in Korea to waste water treatment operator in China to earn the most among Asian private equity funds over the last two years.

According to investment bank industry sources on Sunday, MBK Partners has reaped a total of $3.3 billion through stake sales and dividends from various investments that it solely made since June 2014. Its earnings from the stand-alone investment reportedly exceed multinational giants such as Carlyle in their performance in Asia during the same period.

The earnings from equity investment go up to $4.2 billion when combining $900 million returns from ventures it pursued together with sovereign pension fund managers including Korea’s National Pension Service, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

MBK Partner plans to use its credential to sell a new fund on the scale of more than $3 billion this year.

From Korea, it earned $226 billion in equity investment in Techpack Solutions Co. and $158 million from HK Savings Bank. In Japan, it raked in $609 million from its investment in Universal Studios Japan and $3 million from Japan-based coffee chain operator Komeda Co. It gained $356 million by selling a stake in Chinese waste water treatment operator Golden State Environmental Investment.

It is trying to sell the country’s third-largest cable TV company D’Live Co. which is undergoing debt rescheduling. It redeemed a part of its investment made into Korean home appliance maker Coway Co. and ING Life Insurance Korea Ltd through debt rescheduling program from which it was paid in dividends.

By Han Woo-ram

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]