This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:51 p.m. on Jun. 17, 2026.
Early financial investors (FIs) in travel tech company Yanolja have moved to monetize their equity. As the initial public offering (IPO) continues to be delayed, some investors appear to be seeking to recoup their investments by raising funds against their equity as collateral instead of selling it.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 17th, some of Yanolja's FIs have recently been pursuing a structured finance transaction using their equity. The bookrunner is Morgan Stanley. One option under discussion is to raise funds with Yanolja equity as collateral and use the proceeds as distribution resources for limited partners (LPs).
This transaction is closer to a structured deal that combines the features of an equity-collateralized loan and mezzanine investment, rather than a simple secondary sale. Investors reduce downside risk by taking Yanolja equity as collateral and are repaid when an exit event such as an IPO or secondary sale occurs. For FIs, it allows them to secure cash without immediately selling the equity they hold.
The reason early FIs are pursuing this transaction is that Yanolja's listing is taking longer than expected. Although Yanolja's corporate value has risen significantly since the initial investment, FIs cannot recover their capital unless a listing or secondary sale takes place. As fund maturity approaches, the need to secure resources to distribute to LPs grows, leading FIs to conclude that securing cash first with their equity as collateral is the best option. This can improve fund recovery performance without immediately selling the equity.
In 2021, Yanolja attracted an investment of about 2 trillion won from SoftBank Vision Fund, receiving a valuation in the 8 trillion won range. At the time, SoftBank secured about 25% equity in Yanolja through new share purchases and secondary share acquisitions. Given SoftBank's investment price and target return, the market has consistently suggested that the listing push can gain traction only if Yanolja is valued at around at least 10 trillion won.
Yanolja later appointed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as bookrunners and sought a U.S. Nasdaq listing. However, headwinds such as valuation adjustments for global platform corporations and weakened investor sentiment toward travel and tech sectors have slowed the listing process. The high bar set by General Manager Lee Su-jin is also cited as a factor delaying the timing of the listing.
Yanolja's early investors include SL Investment, SBI Investment KOREA, Skylake Investment, AJU IB INVESTMENT, and Hanwha Asset Management. SL Investment and SBI Investment KOREA invested in 2016, and Skylake, AJU IB INVESTMENT, and Hanwha Asset Management participated in follow-on investments in 2017–2018.
In the IB industry, the key variable in this transaction is also seen as how Yanolja's corporate value is assessed. Although this is a transaction between FIs and investors, Yanolja and SoftBank, which need to push for a listing, cannot accept a valuation that is set too low.
From the investors' perspective, given the uncertainty surrounding the timing of Yanolja's listing, they are likely to demand a conservative loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. Early repayment provisions, additional collateral requirements, and protections in the event of a decline in corporate value could also be included in the transaction terms.