Chairman Park Gives Up Management Rights of TmaxSoft… Focuses on a Super App
- seoultribune
- 2월 2일
- 2분 분량
Park Dae-yeon, chairman of the mid-sized IT firm Tmax Group, has transferred the management rights of the group's key subsidiaries to a private equity fund. This strategic decision aims to allow him to concentrate on the development of a super app through Tmax A&C.
Management Rights Transferred to PE Consortium
According to the investment banking (IB) industry, Recently, Chairman Park and his related parties have donated their entire 22.4% stake in TmaxData to a consortium consisting of Cactus PE and Stick Investment (hereinafter referred to as the consortium). With this transfer, the consortium has secured up to 94% of TmaxData’s shares, strengthening its control over the group's core companies, TmaxSoft and TmaxTibero.
TmaxData functions as an intermediate holding company that controls TmaxSoft and TmaxTibero. TmaxSoft is the leading company in Korea’s middleware market, generating an annual operating profit of approximately KRW 60 billion (based on 2022–2023 figures). TmaxTibero, a database management system (DBMS) company optimized for cloud environments, has been maintaining stable growth. Both companies are considered strong candidates for future initial public offerings (IPOs).
Giving Up Management Rights to Focus on Super App Development
The transfer of management rights appears to be a strategic move by Chairman Park to focus on the development of a super app through Tmax A&C. Tmax Group has actively secured external funding to invest in super app development. According to IB industry sources, the company has raised capital in the following order: Lindeman Asia → Meritz Securities → Skylake → Cactus & Stick Consortium. The funds, reportedly requiring over KRW 100 billion annually, have been allocated for super app development.
Notably, when Skylake previously invested in TmaxSoft, Chairman Park retained a call option, allowing him to repurchase the investor’s shares after a few years. However, in the recent transaction with the Cactus-Stick consortium, the deal did not include a call option. This means Park has now completely relinquished control of TmaxSoft and TmaxTibero.
An IB industry official commented, “In the process of raising external capital for super app development, Park ultimately transferred the management rights of TmaxSoft and TmaxTibero to private equity firms. Moving forward, he is expected to focus entirely on securing funding for Tmax A&C.”
Future Outlook: Success of the Super App Is Key
Chairman Park’s decision to give up management rights underscores his strong confidence in the next-generation IT platform market. Tmax A&C is developing a super app that integrates OS, cloud services, and AI-based functionalities, with the goal of reshaping the industry landscape.
However, the super app market is already highly competitive, with major global tech giants actively engaged in the space. If Tmax A&C fails to achieve the anticipated success, it could significantly impact the future of Chairman Park.
The industry is now closely watching whether Chairman Park’s bold move will create another success story in IT or lead to unexpected challenges.
Seoul Tribune (c)
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