This article was published on April 10, 2025, at 6:06 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Investments from venture capitalists (VCs) have resumed in Andar, the domestic second-largest athleisure brand popular for its cost-effective yoga wear. The sharp improvement in performance following the change in major shareholder to ECHOMARKETING in 2021 has significantly adjusted the company's value upward.
On the 10th, according to the investment banking (IB) industry, Woori Technology Investment has newly become a shareholder in Andar. Woori Technology Investment acquired about 37,000 existing shares from previous investors at approximately 27,000 won per share, totaling about 1 billion won.
The company's value has been assessed at over 140 billion won based on post-value. This marks a fourfold increase compared to May 2021 when ECHOMARKETING invested approximately 19.3 billion won to acquire a controlling stake of about 56%, which valued the entire equity at 34.3 billion won.
At the end of last year, Mirae Asset Venture Investment became a shareholder by acquiring Andar's existing shares. The firm invested about 5 billion won to acquire redeemable convertible preferred stock (RCPS), with the company's value also assessed at 140 billion won, securing around 4% equity.
The investments in Andar's equity by VCs come about four years after ECHOMARKETING's acquisition of the controlling stake. Established in 2015, Andar gained popularity as a cost-effective leggings brand created by a yoga instructor, but faced investor skepticism due to incidents of sexual harassment and bullying controversies.
A source in the VC industry noted, 'The incident of sexual harassment significantly impacted the leggings brand, which has women in their 30s as core consumers,' adding, 'The controversy intensified when Omo, the husband of Andar's founder, Shin Aeyun, was identified as the perpetrator.'
Woori Technology Investment and Mirae Asset Venture Investment are said to have highly evaluated Andar's rapid performance improvement. The new owner, ECHOMARKETING, has successfully expanded Andar's product line, previously focused on yoga and Pilates wear, to include golf and tennis apparel.
Actual sales, which were around 114.4 billion won in 2021, increased to 169.1 billion won the following year and rose to 202.6 billion won by 2023. Last year's revenue exceeded 230 billion won. Profitability also improved, turning a profit with an operating income of 12.6 billion won in 2022 and earning 32.7 billion won last year.
The market views the quick possibility of investment recovery behind the consecutive acquisitions of Andar's existing shares by Woori Technology Investment and Mirae Asset Venture Investment. This stems from ECHOMARKETING's prior consideration of a full sale of Andar's management stake.
There are also observations about a possible re-pursuit of Andar's initial public offering (IPO). This follows the previous halt of related procedures when the company filed for preliminary listing review in 2022. The decision was influenced by the judgment that it would be difficult to recognize corporate value due to a contraction in the stock market from rising interest rates.
A source from the securities industry stated, 'I believe Andar could receive a valuation of over 200 billion won at the time of listing,' noting that the figure is derived from last year's net profit of 25.4 billion won and a price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 8.77 for Jeximix, suggesting that VCs likely invested with an exit in mind.