This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 8:38 a.m. on Aug. 24, 2026.
New funding for SLL JoongAng, the JoongAng Group content producer, has come to a halt. The company sought to raise 100 billion won to repay maturing borrowing fund and secure working capital, but private equity fund (PEF) managers turned away one after another, saying "the entry structure itself does not hold."
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 24th, SLL JoongAng's planned 100 billion won new fundraising was temporarily halted at the tapping (demand check) stage. The company approached multiple PEF managers directly to request investment, but all talks reportedly failed to move beyond the initial review.
SLL JoongAng is a content producer that makes drama and variety shows and is considered a core affiliate of JoongAng Group. Although it avoided the group's cascade of defaults and corporate rehabilitation filings by major affiliates including JoongAng Holdings, it moved to seek investment as procuring funds to repay borrowing fund became difficult.
As of the end of the first quarter, SLL JoongAng's total borrowing fund was tallied at about 344.8 billion won. Borrowing fund maturing this year alone was found to exceed 50 billion won. The company also sought funding by pledging JTBC accounts receivable as collateral, but it lost asset value due to JTBC's rehabilitation filing.
PEF managers who received the investment proposal were said to have concluded that, apart from SLL JoongAng's funding need, the situation itself does not allow investment. That is because there is a high possibility of creditors' compulsory execution or provisional attachment attempts targeting SLL JoongAng, which is not included in the rehabilitation process.
In particular, SLL JoongAng's equity is held by subsidiary Contentree JoongAng, and Contentree JoongAng is said to have provided SLL JoongAng equity as collateral to financial investors before entering rehabilitation. Unless the creditors' repayment deferral or restructuring is premised, there is no room for a new investor.
The exit path is also blocked. For an investment judgment to form, a sale scenario must be drawn, and the court holds that key. When the parent company Contentree JoongAng (53.82% equity) filed for rehabilitation on Jun. 15, the decision-making authority over the handling of SLL JoongAng equity effectively shifted to the court.
Its creditworthiness has already cracked. Korea Ratings downgraded SLL JoongAng's unsecured bond rating from BBB- to BB on Jun. 12, three days before JoongAng Group affiliates filed for rehabilitation, and placed it on review for downgrade. It was pushed below the investment-grade threshold.
SLL JoongAng is also understood to have contacted securities firms before pursuing investment from PEF managers. A plan for a securities firm to acquire 100 billion won of convertible bonds was discussed, but as with the PEF managers, conflicts of interest among financial investors (FIs) and financial instability were cited as issues, and it ultimately fell through.
An IB industry official said, "We know SLL JoongAng needs money, but unless creditor restructuring and the court's decision on sale direction are resolved in sequence, we cannot even review an investment," adding, "It is a problem in itself to seek investment when the court has not even finished the investigation report."