[THE INVESTOR] Hancom, an office suite software developer in South Korea, announced on Aug. 17 that it had received 60 billion won (US$ 52.5 million) in investment from global private equity funds, including Peter Thiel’s Crescendo Equity Partners.

The Korean software developer attracted 50 billion won worth of investment from Crescendo and 10 billion won from Lyndon Asia Global Pioneer Private Equity Investment Company.

Peter Thiel

With the cooperation agreement with Hancom, Crescendo plans to establish partnerships with Silicon Valley venture companies, strengthen its M&A pursuits, and enhance its recruitment of human resources in order to expand its global business.

“Peter Thiel, the founder of Crescendo, is looking for a long-term global business partner for Korean IT companies and with the investment into Hancom, the company has established a foundation to expand its business network,” said a Crescendo official. 

Crescendo is a private equity fund founded by Peter Thiel in 2012. The company has an investment strategy of only investing in the top companies of their respected domestic sector. In 2014, Crescendo invested 20.3 billion won in Seojin System, a Korean company that specializes in aluminum cases and cabinets for telecommunications equipment, and raised its sales 3.7-fold from 45 billion won to 167 billion won in two years. In 2013 the company also invested 37 billion won in Hanimi Semiconductor, a Korean semiconductor equipment maker, and achieved an internal rate of return of 40 percent and has invested another 37.5 billion won into the semiconductor company in 2016.

By Alex Lee (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)