Ark & Partners is expanding the application scope of its core investment strategy, “growth buyout (growth-focused acquisition of management control),” into the manufacturing sector. The market is watching closely to see whether the growth support model it has applied to IT and platform companies can prove effective in manufacturing as well.

A growth buyout is a private equity fund (PEF) investment strategy whereby the fund acquires management control of a company with high potential that is experiencing stagnation, then enhances corporate value through capital injections and structural improvements.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 15th, Changshin, a cosmetics container manufacturing and distribution company acquired by Ark & Partners in December last year, recorded more than a 30% increase in sales in the first half of this year compared with the same period a year earlier, showing a growth trend. Founded in 1988, Changshin counts major domestic and overseas beauty brands as clients and, supported by rising demand for K-beauty, posted annual sales of KRW 75 billion and operating profit of KRW 16.2 billion last year, making it a strong small and mid-sized enterprise.

Ark & Partners has focused its investments on small and mid-sized enterprises and startups located in the “investment gap” between venture capital (VC) and large private equity (PE) funds. After securing management control, it deploys experts from its in-house Value Creation Group (VCG), a specialist corporate value enhancement unit, to directly implement growth strategies. Representative investment cases include Remember (2021), Soomgo (2024), and Team Sparta (2025).

Among these, Remember (Drama & Company) saw its sales grow 12-fold within three years of the acquisition and was sold at the end of 2024 to global private equity firm EQT Partners, which recognized a corporate value of KRW 540 billion. At the time, the deal achieved an internal rate of return (IRR) of more than 20% per year and received positive evaluations in the market.

Kim Sung-min, CEO of Ark & Partners, stated, “If Remember confirmed the growth formula for platform companies, Changshin has shown the possibility that a similar strategy can be applied in manufacturing.” The firm expects growth opportunities across competitive traditional industries such as semiconductor materials, parts and equipment, power infrastructure, and defense precision components, as overseas demand for domestic manufacturers increases amid the restructuring of global supply chains.

In line with this, Ark & Partners is pursuing the formation of its second blind fund, worth KRW 400 billion, to invest in both tech and manufacturing. In March, it was selected as an asset manager for Korea Growth Investment Corporation’s “IBK Growth M&A Fund,” securing KRW 40 billion in committed capital, and once the fund is fully raised, it plans to invest primarily in growth companies with corporate values of KRW 200 billion or less.

CEO Kim explained, “For the second fund as well, the essence of securing management control and growing companies together is the same, regardless of whether the investment target is a platform business or a manufacturer.”

However, some in the investment community note that, unlike platform companies built mainly on intangible assets, manufacturing businesses carry heavier fixed-cost burdens and require essential supply chain management (SCM). They argue that whether Ark & Partners’ distinctive value-up equation can remain effective over the long term in the manufacturing sector will have to be proven through the performance of the second fund’s operations.

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