This article was posted on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 5:32 p.m. on Nov. 6, 2025.
With TaylorMade pursuing a sale of its controlling stake targeting a corporate value of more than 4 trillion won, domestic private equity firm STIC Investments' credit unit (hereinafter STIC Credit) and NH Investment & Securities are continuing to look for investment opportunities. They seek to join F&F as financial investors (FIs) to exercise the right of first refusal. Although the securities firms that will participate as FIs on F&F's side have already been decided, it is reported they view TaylorMade's growth potential as large and are probing the possibility of joining until the last moment.
According to sources in the investment banking (IB) industry, STIC Credit is pursuing a plan to provide funding to F&F together with NH Investment & Securities.
STIC Credit is creating a first blind fund targeting 500 billion won and has continued an aggressive pace, spending 120 billion won before final closing. There is a tie with NH given that key investment executive Executive Director Park Sang-hyun is a former NH Investment & Securities employee.
However, F&F is already reported to have teamed up with Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment & Securities and Samsung Securities to structure roughly 4 trillion won of financing.(Related article☞[Exclusive] F&F, eyeing TaylorMade's right of first refusal, teams up with Mirae, Samsung and Korea Investment Securities) It is likely that the three securities firms will provide funds through methods such as price return swaps (PRS) and also provide acquisition financing. F&F will use its own funds for equity investment, and the amount the securities firms put in is known to depend on how much F&F invests.
The reason the STIC Credit–NH Investment & Securities alliance is still probing the possibility is because of expectations about a "what if" scenario. If PRS is recognized as a liability in accounting, they judge that the investment terms of existing securities firms could change, so they do not want to withdraw until the last moment. PRS is still an accounting gray area, but in practice it is often classified as capital rather than a liability.
But market observers say it will not be easy for STIC and NH to become a game changer. Even for a credit fund, an internal rate of return (IRR) requirement of 10% or more is common. From STIC Credit's perspective, if TaylorMade's future performance falls short of expectations, it will have no choice but to seek downside protection on returns. However, this is reported to differ significantly from the terms F&F wants.
Separately, Centroid Investment Partners has selected J.P. Morgan and Jefferies as sell-side advisors and is pursuing the sale of TaylorMade's controlling stake. The expected corporate value is in the 4 trillion to 5 trillion won range.
Earlier, four to five qualified prospective buyers (shortlist) were selected in early Sept., and the main bidding has been under way since the first week of this month. F&F, which participated as a strategic investor (SI) when acquiring TaylorMade, holds a right of first refusal, giving it the right to acquire the controlling stake on the same terms within 14 days after a third-party acquisition offer.
F&F has said it intends to exercise its right of first refusal and has appointed Goldman Sachs as the lead advisor. The market expects that if a third-party acquisition price exceeds 4 trillion won, F&F's likelihood of exercising the right of first refusal will be reduced. In addition, some in the industry have raised the possibility that existing key management could leave if F&F acquires the controlling stake, so analysis says that if F&F's exercise of the right of first refusal is realized, the key question will be what changes in leadership may follow.