Half of Korea's large business groups were found to have a holding company structure. Corporate venture capital (CVC) under general holding companies expanded venture investment and invested 193.9 billion won last year. In particular, it was tallied that they supplied more than 100 billion won in funding to early- and mid-stage corporations.
According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission on the 24th, 51 out of 102 business groups subject to disclosure (large business groups) this year have holding companies. That is up by one from 50 at the end of last year. As of the end of last year, the total number of holding companies was 173, down by four from the previous year.
Those newly designated as large business groups while having holding companies are Dae Myung Chemical, Kolmar Korea Co., Orion, and Heesung. Samsung set a holding company within the group by creating Samsung Epis Holdings through a spin-off of Samsung Biologics' biosimilar business institutional sector. The number of groups converted to a holding company-centered governance structure was also counted at 47. That is up by one from the previous year and has been on the rise since 2016.
As of the end of last year, there were 13 CVCs under general holding companies. With Doosan excluded from holding companies, that is down by one from the previous year. Of all CVCs, 10 (76.9%) were newly established and registered after the system was introduced.
CVC investment activity also expanded. The 13 CVCs manage a total of 85 investment funds, and 15 funds were newly formed last year, five more than the previous year (10). Venture investments executed last year totaled 151 cases amounting to 193.9 billion won. In overseas investments, four CVCs executed a total of 13.3 billion won, accounting for 6.9% of total investment.
In particular, investments increased in early and mid-stage corporations, where funding demand is high. Investment in early corporations with less than three years in operation was 27.1 billion won, or 14.0% of the total, and investment in mid-stage corporations with three to seven years in operation was 77.7 billion won, or 40.1%. Combined investment in the two brackets was 104.8 billion won.