This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:51 p.m. on July 6, 2026.
United Asset Management Company (UAMCO) and Keystone Private Equity (Keystone PE) are moving to sell industrial environment solutions company AERIX. They had initially pursued an exit through an initial public offering (IPO), but are said to have shifted to a sale of management control after comprehensively considering market conditions and their exit strategy. It has been about five years since UAMCO and Keystone PE acquired AERIX.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 6th, UAMCO and Keystone PE recently began the process to sell AERIX. They selected EY Han Young as the sell-side advisor and have begun contacting potential buyers. UAMCO and Keystone PE hold 99.32% equity in AERIX through special purpose company (SPC) ConnectXing Holdings.
In 2020, UAMCO and Keystone PE acquired AERIX from then-largest shareholder Clearwater Capital Partners (CCP) through the jointly managed "Corporate Structure Innovation Fund." They are said to have highly valued the competitiveness of the industrial dust collector operations and maintenance (O&M) business, the potential to expand the smart factory business, and growth in the industrial environment equipment market.
After the acquisition, they also focused on improving the business structure. They improved the project-centered sales structure, diversified the customer portfolio, and reorganized the sales organization. As a result, they secured new corporate clients, reduced dependence on specific clients, and are seen as having driven both top-line growth and profitability improvement.
Results improved markedly. On a consolidation basis, revenue rose about 57%, from 78.1 billion won in 2020, when the stake was acquired, to 122.4 billion won last year. Over the same period, operating profit increased about 77%, from 2.3 billion won to 4.0 billion won, and EBITDA expanded from about 3.1 billion won to around 5.6 billion won. With both scale and profitability improving after the investment, the company's value is also viewed as having risen considerably.
Based on this performance improvement, UAMCO and Keystone PE pushed for an IPO exit in 2024. At the time, they selected Daishin Securities as the lead underwriter and began the listing process, and they also considered bolt-on acquisitions of regional air environment companies to enhance valuation.
However, during preparations for the listing, they are said to have changed strategy, judging that an exit through M&A would be more favorable than an IPO in terms of the timing of recovering their investment and the certainty of the transaction.
Founded in 1976, AERIX is an industrial environment solutions company focused on manufacturing and installing industrial dust collectors; operations and maintenance (O&M); and air environment measurement and consulting. It counts among its clients major domestic industrial companies including POSCO's Pohang and Gwangyang steelworks, Hyundai Steel, LG Chem, and OCI. Recently, it has been expanding into IoT-based smart dust collectors and smart factory solutions.
The industry cites AERIX's significant post-investment improvement in business structure as its strongest advantage. At the time of acquisition, its project-centered revenue and high dependence on some clients made earnings relatively volatile, but since then, it is assessed to have strengthened recurring revenue by diversifying its customer portfolio and expanding the operations and maintenance (O&M) business. Because dust collection equipment at industrial sites requires regular maintenance and ongoing performance upgrades even after installation, the company can generate stable recurring revenue centered on the O&M business.
In addition, with stricter environmental regulations and the digital transformation of industrial sites steadily increasing demand for replacing aging equipment and for smart environmental management, the industry expects the company to draw interest from strategic investors (SI) seeking to expand their industrial environment businesses.