CVC Capital Partners has hired JPMorgan's top banker in Korea to chair the buyout firm's operations in the country, as the firm hunts for off-market deal flow in one of Asia's most competitive markets for mergers and acquisitions.

The London-based firm said in a statement that Steve Lim, chief executive of JP Morgan in Korea and a member of the bank's Asia Pacific management committee, is set to join CVC's office in Seoul.