Hillhouse Investment, which unexpectedly emerged as the new owner of Igis Asset Management, is a global private equity fund manager established with backing from Yale University's endowment fund. Founded in 2005 by Zhang Lei, a Singaporean of Chinese descent, the firm says it has deep understanding of the Korean market, having made its first investment in Korea in 2007. However, industry observers note uncertainty remains over how financial regulators will evaluate Hillhouse in the major shareholder qualification review, given the firm's track record of extracting high dividends from its Korean portfolio companies.
According to investment banking sources on Sunday, Hillhouse initially proposed an acquisition price of around 950 billion won ($700 million), below the offers from leading bidders Hanwha Life Insurance and Heungkuk Life Insurance during the preliminary and main bidding rounds. The firm then seized the initiative by suddenly adding 110 billion won after the main bid.
Few had predicted a Hillhouse victory. Cho Kap-joo, former head of Igis's new business division who was both a shareholder and a key figure in the sale process, had publicly expressed a negative stance toward selling to overseas buyers.
Moreover, among Igis's dispersed shareholders, only 66.6% of shares were tendered for sale in the early stages. The acquisition battle was expected to fail given anticipated distress in Igis's overseas investment assets. However, as competition intensified in the main round, bidders' prices kept rising. Heungkuk Life appeared to have the upper hand after offering 1.05 trillion won in the main bid, but Hillhouse reversed the outcome through a progressive deal—an auction-style bidding process allowing additional offers after the main bid—by raising its price by approximately 150 billion won.
Industry observers interpret Hillhouse's move to acquire a Korean real estate asset manager as part of its broader strategy to expand real estate management operations across Asia, including Japan.
Hillhouse acquired Japanese real estate developer Samty Holdings last year and subsequently established a fund with 10 major hotel assets in Tokyo and other Japanese cities as underlying assets.
Igis has also been expanding its multifamily housing investment business in Japan. For Hillhouse, which is newly expanding into real estate development, acquiring Igis offers access to both large-scale mixed-use development experience and major office assets the Korean firm has accumulated domestically.
Hillhouse has invested in Asian companies, including Chinese firms, across various stages from early-stage startups to management buyouts in sectors including technology, consumer goods, climate change, and healthcare. Its major limited partners include institutional investors well-versed in long-term private equity, such as Stanford University's endowment fund and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Hillhouse's track record as a Korean investor draws mixed reviews. SK Ecoprime, which Hillhouse owns 100%, paid out 70 billion won in dividends in 2024, its first year under Hillhouse management—more than four times its 16 billion won net profit. Meanwhile, capital expenditure that year totaled just 1.6 billion won. While the dividends did not flow overseas, they were used to repay acquisition financing for Sentry Holdings, the entity Hillhouse established to acquire Ecoprime. Hillhouse explained this was a common strategy among global private equity firms, utilizing substantial retained earnings that had accumulated at SK Ecoprime.
However, differences exist even compared to domestic private equity firms. Hillhouse also participated in pre-IPO investment in SK On, but withdrew its investment when SK On postponed its planned listing. Other investors at the time, including Korea Investment Private Equity, reinvested based on their confidence in SK On's long-term growth potential.
