This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 8:58 a.m. on May 28, 2026.
Private equity fund (PEF) manager Anchor Equity Partners has succeeded in refinancing the acquisition financing for Etus Education, which it has held for the long term. While it has put out the immediate fire after years of no progress in the sale process, observers said the new acquisition financing has a maturity of only 1 year and 6 months and carries high interest costs, falling short of a fundamental solution. Etus Education remains a long-unrecovered portfolio and an "albatross" for Anchor PE.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 28th, Anchor PE recently completed the refinancing of Etus Education's acquisition financing. The total is 100 billion won, consisting of 80 billion won in senior debt and 20 billion won in mezzanine. Hanwha Investment & Securities and Shinyoung Securities jointly arranged the deal, and the maturity is 1 year and 6 months. The interest rates are reportedly 7.3% per year for the senior tranche and 10.8% for the mezzanine.
The previous acquisition financing was about 90 billion won and is understood to have included a revolving credit facility (RCF). That acquisition financing was arranged by Korea Investment & Securities Co.
Etus Education is a long-unrecovered portfolio for Anchor PE. Anchor PE invested 35 billion won in Etus Education in 2015 in the form of bonds with warrants (BW). In 2019, it acquired 29.48% of the majority shareholder's equity for 65 billion won, and it now holds a 58.9% controlling equity stake through "EDU EDISON LTD."
When Anchor PE invested, Etus Education was regarded as a college entrance education company with stable cash generation. In 2015, Etus Education's consolidation revenue was 217.3 billion won and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were about 25 billion won. By 2020, consolidation revenue had increased to 263.4 billion won and EBITDA to 50.7 billion won.
Since then, however, results began to deteriorate as the decline in the school-age population, intensifying competition in online entrance education, and the burden of Edtech investment overlapped. Although simple comparisons have limits because the academy, online lectures, and publishing businesses were transferred to Etus Edu in a spin-off in 2022, Etus Education's revenue on a consolidation basis fell from 117.3 billion won in 2023 to 97.6 billion won in 2024 and 92.1 billion won in 2025. Operating profit also plunged from 21.4 billion won in 2023 to 400 million won in 2024, then turned to a loss of about 4.7 billion won last year.
In particular, discontinued operations losses grew in the Danbi Education segment, which was classified as an asset held for sale. Danbi Education posted revenue of 108 billion won and operating profit of 28 billion won in 2022, but revenue fell to 89.9 billion won and operating profit to 9.7 billion won in 2023, and in 2024 it turned to a loss with revenue of 67.1 billion won and an operating loss of 12.5 billion won.
Anchor PE began in earnest to sell Etus Education in 2022. It initially pursued a bulk sale, but the effort fell through due to unfavorable market conditions. It then shifted course to sell off prized subsidiaries Danbi Education and Education Jidae separately.
However, the sale did not materialize due to creditor opposition over the split structure and a gap in price expectations between the seller and potential buyers. Since then, Anchor PE has changed its recovery strategy to an initial public offering (IPO) of Danbi Education, a separate sale of Education Jidae, and a partial sale of Etus Education equity, but it has yet to achieve a final exit.