European private equity giant EQT has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Remember & Company, South Korea’s AI-powered human resources technology platform, for approximately 500 billion won ($400 million).
In a statement, EQT said BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII will purchase stakes from major Remember shareholders, including Ark & Partners, which acquired the company in December 2021.
The acquisition, if it pushes through, will become one of the largest transactions in South Korea’s HR tech sector, per the announcement.
Remember, often dubbed the “LinkedIn of Korea,” has grown from a business card management app founded in 2013 into a comprehensive HR platform serving over 10,000 enterprise clients and 5 million users.
The company maintains a proprietary database of more than 500 million name cards and provides end-to-end recruitment solutions in a market where LinkedIn remains underpenetrated.
“Remember is a rare and differentiated asset, uniquely positioned at the intersection of South Korea’s demographic structural transformation and the rise of AI-driven talent management,” said Dayea Yeon, partner in EQT’s Private Capital advisory team and head of EQT Private Capital Korea.
EQT said the acquisition reflects strong growth in South Korea’s HR tech sector, driven by demographic shifts, increased demand for experienced hires, and the evolution of recruitment technologies.
Under Ark & Partners’s ownership, Remember’s revenue grew more than twelvefold over three years as it transformed from a simple business card app into an AI-powered recruitment platform.
“The transition from Ark & Partners to EQT, represents a ‘new-generation deal’ that highlights the growing interplay between South Korea’s venture ecosystem and private equity market,” said Sungmin Kim, founder and CEO of Ark & Partners.
The deal comes about four months after EQT reaped more than $10 billion for BPEA Private Equity Fund IX, its latest flagship fund dedicated to investments in Asia. The hard cap for the fund has been set at $14.5 billion.
The predecessor fund, BPEA VIII, had raised over $11 billion in 2022.
Last month, EQT announced that it has completed its acquisition of Niwas Housing Finance Limited, an affordable housing finance player in India formerly known as IndoStar Home Finance, from IndoStar Capital Finance Limited.
