This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:40 p.m. on Jan. 23, 2026.
A noncompete injunction lawsuit that private equity fund (PEF) manager UCK Partners filed against a former employee who moved to a rival has been dismissed. It is unusual in the PEF industry for a manager and a former employee to wage a legal battle, and some say the ruling could serve as a guideline for future personnel moves in the industry.
According to investment banking (IB) and legal sources, the Seoul Central District Court recently dismissed a petition for a preliminary injunction to ban job changes that UCK Partners filed against former employee A, who moved to rival PEF manager Premier Partners. It came about seven months after the injunction request.
A worked for about three years at UCK Partners as a senior in charge of investments and moved to Premier Partners in June last year. UCK Partners argued that Premier Partners is a direct competitor and that A was highly likely to use trade secrets such as the company's know-how in attracting overseas limited partners (LPs).
But the court did not accept UCK's assertions. The court found that the knowledge A acquired could be commonly obtained in the trade of the relevant industry. It said that unless the information is specific to the company, using it after leaving falls within the scope of an individual's capabilities.
The PEF industry paid close attention to the outcome. That is because the result could serve as a kind of guideline in job-change situations for PEF management personnel. If UCK Partners' claims were accepted, there were concerns that managers could restrict job changes each time personnel moved, using the same logic.
UCK Partners does not plan to appeal the injunction decision. A UCK Partners official said, "There is no practical benefit to an appeal because the rival's overseas fund-raising has already ended," and added, "We did not try to block A's job change, but proposed only to defer it during the rival's overseas funding period."