This article was published on July 18, 2025, at 2:11 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove website.
IMM Investment, a domestic private equity fund (PEF) operator, is known to be pursuing a plan to move the wired telecommunications company Dreamline, acquired in 2020, to a continuation fund. A continuation fund refers to an investment technique that creates a new fund by recruiting new investors to hold specific assets for the long term and moves existing assets into it.
According to the investment bank (IB) industry on the 18th, IMM Investment is in the process of transferring Dreamline, invested through the 'IMM Infrastructure Fund No. 8', to a continuation fund with a longer maturity structure. It is known that they are currently in the phase of seeking consent from major domestic and international investors (LPs).
IMM Investment holds 96.6% equity in Dreamline through its wholly-owned subsidiary, the special purpose company (SPC) 'La Lumière'. They plan to acquire 100% equity in Dreamline by utilizing funds from a newly formed project fund and the 10th blind fund. They intend to secure 100 billion won needed for submarine cable development afterward.
Entering the sixth year of acquiring Dreamline, they seem to have determined that rather than selling assets, they would raise corporate value through additional investments after the fund transfer, as the performance is trending upwards. For funds managing infrastructure assets, the usual maturity is around 10 years. It is expected that persuading investors in the 8th fund and the 10th fund will be the key issue, as they are different.
Last year, Dreamline recorded sales of 168 billion won, a decrease of about 1.5% from the previous year (171 billion won), but its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 27% during the same period to 30 billion won. The value of the 100% equity is reported to be estimated in the mid-300 billion won range.
IMM Investment purchased 90.5% equity in Dreamline for 90 billion won from Korea Investment Private Equity, SeAH Networks, and SeAH Holdings in 2020. If this transfer procedure is completed, it would mean they have raised corporate value more than threefold in five years.
Founded in 1997, Dreamline is a long-distance telecommunications operator with a nationwide fiber optic cable network. It engages in dedicated line services, common base station businesses, and other telecommunications service operations. The common base stations are established by constructing auxiliary facilities such as steel towers and have a stable revenue structure by collecting usage fees from KT, SK Telecom, and LG Uplus.