April 25, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR] IMM Private Equity is acquiring convertible preferred shares worth 60 billion won (US$56 million) in SoCar, the nation’s No. 1 ride-sharing service operator, according to industry sources on April 3.

Under the deal, the private equity firm is expected to become the third-largest shareholder, followed by Lee Jae-woong, founder of Daum Communications with a 45 percent stake, and SK Holdings, the holding company of SK Group that acquired a 27 percent stake in 2016 for 58.8 billion won.

SoCar, established in 2011, has posted an annual 50 percent growth in sales over the past five years. In 2017, sales reached 110 billion won, although the firm registered operating losses. Recently, the firm has been pushing autonomous driving in a bid to operate driverless taxis in the near future.

Korea’s burgeoning ride-platform business has been gaining keen attention from investors. US PEF TPG Group invested 500 billion won in Kakao Mobility, the operator of taxi-hailing app KakaoTaxi and other mobility services, last year.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)