Samlip expands supplier fund to $25M in low-rate lending push

What's the deal? South Korean bakery firm Samlip is expanding a shared-growth fund with Shinhan BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to 35 billion won (about $25 million) this year to support low-interest loans for its suppliers. The company announced on September 7 that it had raised the fund by 7 billion won from its previous size.

How it works: The fund uses interest income from Samlip's fixed deposits at Shinhan BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to finance discounted loans for suppliers. Through the program, suppliers can borrow at roughly 1.4 percentage points below market lending rates.

Why now? Samlip has scaled the fund steadily under a shared-growth agreement with Shinhan Bank. It launched at 20 billion won in 2016, reached 28 billion won in 2024, and now stands at 35 billion won.

The company said the fund can be sized at up to twice the value of the fixed deposits it places with the bank.

What's the endgame? Samlip framed the expansion as part of its environmental, social, and governance strategy. "This expansion of the shared-growth fund is part of our sustainable management strategy to pursue mutual growth with suppliers," a company representative said (translated from Korean), adding that Samlip would keep supporting suppliers facing difficulties.

The signal: As financing costs weigh on smaller firms, large Korean companies are increasingly using bank-linked funds to ease suppliers' interest burdens. Samlip's step-by-step growth of the program signals that such shared-growth schemes are becoming a fixture of corporate ESG commitments rather than one-off gestures.

Read more: edaily.co.kr

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