Korea Investment Corp. and South Korea's National Agricultural Cooperative Federation have set up a $400 million joint venture to pursue global private equity investments.
A KIC news release said the $157.3 billion sovereign wealth fund will contribute $300 million to the venture while NACF, which supports more than 2 million Korean farmers affiliated with more than 1,100 agricultural cooperatives across the country, will contribute $100 million.
The partnership is in line with KIC's mandate to support the development of South Korea's financial sector and "will enable us to share opportunities for private equity deals and generate stable returns through cutting costs," Heenam Choi, CEO, said in the release.
The tie-up with Seoul-based NACF is KIC's first such joint venture, a spokesman for the fund said.
Mr. Choi said "going forward, KIC will share its global network and knowledge with domestic public investors."
The first investment by the joint venture can be expected this year, the release said.
NACF's latest annual report for the year ended Dec. 31, 2018 said the organization had investment assets of 24.3 trillion won.
