EQT Takes Douzone Bizon Private in a $2.2bn Deal, Reaching 94% Through Tender Offers
The Swedish sponsor bought the founder's and a Shinhan affiliate's stakes at KRW 120,000 a share, then ran two tender offers: the year's largest foreign-PE take-private of a listed Korean software company.
- Deal value
- $2.2bn
- Stake
- 94%
- Implied 100%
- $2.4bn
- Revenue
- $308m
- Op. income
- $88m
- Multiples
- EQV/EBIT 27.4xPSR 7.8x
구주
KRW 120,000/sh x 29,123,883 shares ex-treasury (28,040,710 common + 1,083,173 preferred)
2025 연결 · DART-verified
2025 연결 · DART-verified
On implied equity value
DART 20260318001198
- Target
- Douzone Bizon · ERP / enterprise software
- Buyer
- EQT Partners · FI
- Seller
- Founder Kim Yong-woo and Shinhan Value-up No.1 (Shinhan Financial affiliate), plus tender-offer shareholders
- Structure
- Secondary
- Announced
- —
- Closed
- Feb 23, 2026
- Stage
- Closed
Target
Douzone Bizon, founded in 1991, provides ERP, tax, accounting and compliance software and is reported as No. 2 in Korea's ERP market after SAP. 2025 consolidated revenue was a record KRW 446.3bn with operating profit of KRW 127.7bn and net income of KRW 98.5bn.
Deal rationale
EQT signed an SPA in November 2025 to buy the stakes of chairman Kim Yong-woo (21.51%) and Shinhan Financial affiliates (34.83% in total including preferred shares) at KRW 120,000 per share (KRW 1.3158tn), then launched a tender offer for the remaining 57.69% at the same price (25% premium to the prior close) from 23 Feb to 24 Mar 2026 via SPC Doronicum. EQT said it concluded that making Douzone a wholly owned subsidiary and delisting it was in shareholders' interests, reached 94.0% after a second tender and proceeded with a cash-out comprehensive share exchange.
| Revenue | $308m |
| Operating income | $88m |
| EBITDA | — |
| Net income | $64m |
2025 연결 · DART-verified · 20260318001198
Lead
Swedish private equity firm EQT Partners is taking KOSPI-listed ERP software company Douzone Bizon private. In November 2025 it agreed to buy 37.6% at KRW 120,000 a share: Chairman Kim Yong-woo’s 23.2% and a Shinhan Financial Group affiliate’s 14.4%. After reviews by the Korea Fair Trade Commission and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s foreign investment security screening, EQT took control in February 2026. The deal totals $2.2bn.
USD figures are converted at KRW 1,450 = USD 1.
Why this matters
It is the largest take-private of a listed Korean software company by a foreign private equity firm this year. The founder sold his entire stake, and the buyer is using tender offers and a comprehensive share swap to reach 100% and delist the company.
Strategic context
EQT ran a first tender offer from 23 February to 24 March 2026 at KRW 120,000 a share, about a 25% premium to the pre-announcement price, reaching about 90%. A second tender from 27 March took it to 94% by the end of April. The remaining shares were scheduled to be acquired through a comprehensive share swap on 30 June.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| 2025 revenue (consolidated) | $307.8m |
| 2025 operating income | $88.1m |
| 2025 net income | $63.7m |
| Equity value at KRW 120,000 a share | about $2.3bn (28.03m shares outstanding) |
| Simple multiples | P/E about 36x; equity value/operating income about 26x |
Financials and share count from the DART 2025 annual report. Multiples are simple equity-based calculations and do not adjust for net cash.
What’s next
After the share swap and delisting, EQT will own 100%. The date the delisting was completed is unconfirmed.