HedgeCo.Net — EQT on September 30, 2026 announced that EQT BPEA Private Equity Fund VII has agreed to sell Acuon Group, a Korean independent financial platform, to a consortium led by Hanwha Life Insurance, part of Hanwha Group, together with Centroid Investment Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.
Acuon comprises Acuon Capital, which EQT describes as Korea’s largest independent capital company, and Acuon Savings Bank, founded in 1972. EQT said group total assets nearly doubled during its ownership to approximately KRW 10 trillion, and that Acuon Savings Bank rose from ninth to fifth among Korean savings banks by total lending assets.
EQT invested in 2019 to back growth in Korea’s SME and retail lending markets. It said digital consumer loan origination, AI-based credit scoring, and automation cut loan disbursement times from 36 hours to under five minutes, and that the bank’s mobile app now has more than one million subscribers. Dayea Yeon, Head of Private Capital Korea at EQT, framed the sale as the result of investment in technology and institutional capabilities. UBS, Citigroup, and Shin&Kim advised EQT.
For Asia private equity LPs, the exit is a notable data point on distributions from a 2019 vintage position in a regulated financial services asset, with a strategic insurer as buyer. Sales to domestic strategics paired with local sponsors remain one of the more reliable exit routes in Korea, where regulatory approval of financial-company ownership changes will determine timing.