Korea’s First Wine Fund to Be Launched

The first Korean fund to directly invest in vintage wines will be launched soon.

SK Networks and Hana Bank announced Thursday that they will start their second “Korea Private Equity Great Vintage Wine Fund” on December 20.

SK Networks added that it had already privately sold 8.2 billion won worth of the first Vintage Wine Fund on November 30 for one day to 30 customers who booked in advance.

Yuri Asset Management launched the first “Global Wine Fund” in Korea this June, but the fund only invests in wine-related companies.

The second wine fund will be managed by Korea Investment, sold by Hana Bank, and consulted by the U.K.’s Enferro. SK Networks will be responsible for the purchase and keeping of the wine.

The fund will deal 50 top-notch French wines from the Bordeaux region in France, and will be managed for five years. The number of investors will be less than 30 because it is a private equity fund. It will purchase over 12 million bottles of wine and they will be kept for five years in an U.K.-government run bond warehouse, and resold to the market at a later date.

Also, the fund guarantees principal. SK board members agreed Tuesday that they would pay back the principal even if the ultimate value falls below the investment level when the fund is resolved.

An employee of SK Networks said, “The prospect for high-end wine is bright because the demands of emerging markets like China and Russia are huge. Though it started as a private equity fund, it could transform itself into a public fund.”

SK Networks first created a wine business team in 2005 and last year, it launched its own wine brand, “S-Lesailo.”

kimsunmi@donga.com