Crescendo's Fourth Fundraising on Track... KRW 500 Billion Already Raised Overseas

First Close... More Than Half Raised Overseas

Crescendo Equity Partners, a private equity fund (PEF) manager specializing in technology investments, has completed the first close of its fourth blind fund, which is targeting $1 billion. Both domestic and overseas limited partners (LPs) have responded positively to the firm’s solid investment performance, and it is said to have fared well despite a tight fundraising market.

On November 5, Crescendo EP announced that it had successfully completed the first close of the Crescendo No. 4 Private Investment Partnership (Fourth Blind Fund). The firm said it had already raised more than 70% of the $500 million overseas fundraising target, which accounts for half of the fund’s total target of $1 billion.

Given the participation of overseas LPs currently considering an investment, the overseas target is expected to be exceeded. Crescendo EP said it also expects fundraising to gain momentum as due diligence by several major institutions interested in investing as domestic LPs is proceeding smoothly.

Through the new fund, Crescendo EP plans to continue making control buyout investments in domestic small and midsize technology companies with enterprise values ranging from KRW 50 billion to KRW 500 billion. The firm is focusing on key sectors that the government is nurturing and supporting as next-generation national strategic industries, including semiconductors; electronics and electrical equipment; B2B software; and cybersecurity. Crescendo EP said its core partners, who combine industry expertise with investment experience, and its dedicated operations advisory group will help portfolio companies advance their technologies, diversify their products, and globalize their management systems, while actively supporting growth through a “buy-and-build” strategy involving strategic mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

The firm emphasized that the strong sponsorship of Peter Thiel, the world-renowned IT investor and co-founder of PayPal, is a unique competitive advantage for Crescendo EP. Thiel Capital executives participate directly in the investment committee, and the firm leverages Peter Thiel’s global network to actively drive portfolio companies’ overseas expansion and cross-border M&A.

Based on this strategy, Crescendo EP has invested a total of KRW 1.5162 trillion in 29 companies since its establishment, without recording a single loss of principal. The net internal rate of return (Net IRR) of Crescendo’s first, second, and third blind funds substantially exceeded the top quartile threshold (top 25%) for global PEFs, based on the global PEF net IRR quartiles for the first quarter of this year published by Cambridge Associates, a global investment advisory and consulting firm. The firm has successfully managed 10 project funds and three blind funds, with cumulative assets under management (AUM) of approximately KRW 1.8 trillion. The first blind fund recorded a gross internal rate of return (Gross IRR) of over 30% and a distribution to paid-in capital (DPI) in the high 1x range.

“By combining Crescendo’s deep insight into technology with our strong partnership with Peter Thiel and his global network, we will fulfill our role as a partner in helping competitive Korean technology companies make major strides on the world stage,” said Lee Gidu, CEO of Crescendo EP.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.