Forest Partners Acquires UTC Investment... Expands Assets Under Management to 1.5 Trillion Won

[Financial News] Forest Partners announced on the 31st that it has signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire 100% of the shares of UTC Investment, a leading mid-sized venture capital (VC) in Korea.
This transaction is expected to be finalized in August. Through this, Forest Partners will expand its total assets under management (AUM) to approximately 1.5 trillion won.
This acquisition is evaluated as a strategic turning point that can further strengthen the expertise and execution power of the venture investment division, which Forest Partners has taken as a core growth axis, and simultaneously enhance operational stability and growth speed. Forest Partners, as an independent management company, expects that after the acquisition, the personnel, track record, investment, and liquidity provider (LP) network of both companies will be complementarily combined based on its experience and investment insights across fund management.
Forest Partners currently manages approximately 680 billion won in assets across all areas of venture capital (VC), private equity (PE), and asset management (AM). Through the 'Pine Tree Series', a private equity fund specializing in startup ventures, it has invested from the early stages in global technology-based startups such as Tridge, Pado, and More. In 2021, it established Forest Ventures as a subsidiary to strengthen its internal VC capabilities. In 2023, it recruited Hwang Ho-yeon, a co-founder of the New York-based hedge fund Tiger Pacific Capital, as CSO and representative of Forest Ventures to further enhance its expertise in the venture investment field.
Established in 1988, UTC Investment is a leading mid-sized venture capital that has led the domestic venture investment market, managing approximately 820 billion won in assets. It has accumulated excellent performance through proactive investments in representative startups in each industry, such as Market Kurly, SemiFive, ASICLand, and SmartScore. Recently, it was selected as a management company (GP) in the Cultural Account IP Fund of Funds and the Agricultural, Forestry, and Fisheries Fund of Funds, and is formalizing fund formation and investment execution by passing the document screening in the Startup Korea Fund support.
This sale is evaluated as a strategic decision for UTC Investment to respond more agilely to the rapidly changing industrial environment, including artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and robotics. It aimed to respond swiftly to market changes through a structure where ownership and management are aligned and selected Forest Partners, which has rich management experience and a high understanding of domestic and international business environments, as a new partner. The two companies have accumulated mutual understanding and trust through various collaborations, including the acquisition of a North American logistics company. This acquisition is expected to organically combine the strengths of each company to create strong synergy in the future.
Forest Partners plans to secure the stable operation and continuity of existing funds by succeeding all employees of UTC Investment after the acquisition. In addition, it plans to strengthen the competitiveness of the venture investment platform by combining the management capabilities and networks of Forest Ventures and UTC Investment, and to formalize strategic connections with the global LP linkage, discovery of promising startups, and support for global expansion, and the domestic and international ecosystem.
Forest Partners plans to continue its growth as a representative venture investment-based alternative investment management company in Korea by continuously executing a proactive investment strategy centered on founder-centric philosophy, focusing on solo and lead investments.

stand@fnnews.com Seo Ji-yoon Reporter