Sweden’s EQT Partners, one of Europe’s largest private equity firms, has signed a deal to acquire Remember & Company, the operator of a fast-growing South Korean career networking platform, as it seeks to cement a foothold in Asia’s online professional services market.
Investment banking industry sources said on Monday that EQT Partners signed an agreement to acquire a 47% stake from Remember’s largest shareholder, Ark & Partners.
Analysts estimate the 100% stake in Remember, a popular business card and networking app, at the mid-500 billion won, or $396 million, range.
EQT is also in talks to buy the remaining stakes from other key shareholders, including Line Plus and Saramin HR, sources said.
JPMorgan advised Ark & Partners, a Seoul-based private equity firm, on the stake sale.
ARK’S EXIT IN THREE YEARS
The sale comes three years after Ark & Partners acquired the 47% stake in Remember & Company for 110 billion won in 2021.
Remember & Company, formerly Drama & Company, operates a popular business management app called Remember, largely in Korea.
Remember has since expanded its business portfolio through a string of acquisitions.
In 2022, the company took over domestic career consulting firm, Liahnson & Company, as well as Superookie, a job matching and training platform and Jasoseol.com, a personal statement service.
It also acquired Brisk & Young Associates, an executive recruitment service, in 2023.
IMPROVING BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
Remember & Company now operates as a broader career and networking platform, with its headhunting services accounting for a significant portion of revenue.
In 2024, Remember reported 68.4 billion won in consolidated revenue, nearly doubling from the previous year.
However, its operating loss widened to 4.2 billion won from 2.1 billion won over the same period.
On a separate basis, the company’s operating loss doubled to 11.6 billion won, with revenue of 25.1 billion won, up 27%.
Despite the losses, the company has been posting monthly operating turnarounds since last October, setting the stage for Ark & Partners’ exit.
Remember is projected to generate 8 billion won in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) this year
KOREAN EQUIVALENT OF LINKEDIN
Backed by Sweden’s Wallenberg family, EQT sees significant potential to leverage Remember’s large base of professional users to expand into recruitment, training and career management, supported by bolt-on acquisitions and its global network, sources said.
EQT also values Remember’s trove of career and industry data as a future growth driver.
Industry watchers said the deal could position Remember as a rival to global professional networking firm LinkedIn, which has yet to dominate the Korean market.
EQT has been active in Korean buyout deals recently, including its bid for Douzone Bizon Co., Korea’s leading homegrown enterprise software firm and the country’s No. 2 player in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market.
By Da-Eun Choi
max@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.
