Private equity fund (PEF) manager Hahn & Company was included in the president's economic delegation for a state visit. This is the first time a figure from the private equity industry has joined an economic delegation.
On the 24th, according to the investment banking (IB) industry, Lee Dong-chun, a vice president at Hahn & Company, was included in President Lee Jae-myung's economic delegation for the state visit to Vietnam and carried out the local itinerary. Lee serves as an outside nonexecutive director at Namyang Dairy Products.
Lee attended the Korea–Vietnam Business Forum held the previous day. At the event, Namyang Dairy Products signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Vietnamese distributor Phu Thai Holdings to pursue a three-year cooperation project worth a total of 70 billion won. The two companies plan to cooperate in food businesses including infant formula and to expand in the local market.
Attending the signing ceremony were Kim Seung-eon, chief executive officer of Namyang Dairy Products; Pham Dinh Doan, chairman of Phu Thai Holdings; Kim Jung-kwan, Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; and Nguyen Van Thang, Vietnam's finance minister.
Hahn & Company has been involved in management since acquiring Namyang Dairy Products in Jan. 2024. Namyang Dairy Products turned to an operating profit in the third quarter of 2024, and last year posted profits in both operating income and net income on an annual basis.
The market sees the delegation's makeup as aligning with a growing trend of private equity (PE) directly engaging in management after investments. It is also notable that a PE figure was included in a participation structure traditionally centered on manufacturing and finance.