Deals

Private equity
Orchestra PE buys Korean pizza brand Banolim
Orchestra Private Equity set up Orchestra Private Equity IV (OPE IV) to invest $32 million in Korea’s pizza chain operator Banolim Food Co. and its pizza brand. The investors of OPE IV are mainly Korean limited partners, and a partnership wil
Nov 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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E-commerce
MBK seeks to buy two S.Korean e-commerce platforms
MBK Partners is in talks to buy management rights of two e-commerce platforms listed on South Korea's Kosdaq market in a package deal, according to ...
Nov 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Legal data firm FiscalNote to list on Nasdaq via $1.3 bn SPAC deal
FiscalNote Holdings Inc., a US legal data and analytics company founded by a Korean-American, is set to go public in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. ...
Nov 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Race for CJ Olive Young IPO underwriting deal heats up
The competition to underwrite a listing of CJ Olive Young, South Korea’s top beauty store chain, is intensifying with some brokerage houses va...
Nov 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
CJ Cheiljedang to acquire Dutch bio firm Batavia for 195 million euros
CJ Cheiljedang Corp., a key subsidiary of South Korea’s food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, said on Monday it is acquiring Batavia B...
Nov 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Travel startups draw new funds amid digital transformation
As South Korea loosened social distancing measures for a gradual return to normal life this week, investors are rekindling their interest in travel ...
Nov 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Korea’s Netmarble Neo drops listing plan as sentiment sours
South Korea’s game developer Netmarble Neo decided to withdraw its initial public offering plan as sentiment in the primary market sours amid ...
Nov 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
KKR invests $2 bn in SK E&S' new preferred shares
KKR & Co. has signed an agreement to buy 2.4 trillion won ($2 billion) worth of newly-issued preferred shares in SK E&S Co., the US private ...
Nov 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
HYBE, Korea cryptocurrency exchange operator to co-launch BTS NFTs
HYBE Co., the label behind BTS, is expected to launch non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for assets of the world’s top boy band alongside the operator...
Nov 04, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min readlanguage -
IPOs
Kakao Pay slips on profit-taking after strong KOSPI debut
Kakao Pay Corp. ’s stock tumbled after a strong debut on the South Korean main stock market as investors booked profits, keeping an eye on if ...
Nov 04, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
4 Min readlanguage -
Investment banking
Goldman promotes TMT banker to MD in Seoul
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Nov. 2 announced the promotions of two Korean executive directors in its Seoul office to managing directors (MDs), the b...
Nov 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
AI human developer MINDs Lab aims for November IPO
South Korea’s top artificial intelligence (AI) developer MINDs Lab Inc. is aiming to list on the Kosdaq market within this month. While the ...
Nov 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min read -
IPOs
SM Line joins growing list of S.Korean IPO dropouts
SM Line Corp. on Wednesday became the latest South Korean company to drop its initial public offering plan on disappointing institutional interest.T...
Nov 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Specialty coffee brand Terarosa raises $60 mn from Unison Capital
The operator of Terarosa, known as the Blue Bottle Coffee of South Korea, has received around 70 billion won ($60 million) in funding from Unison Ca...
Nov 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Upcoming IPOs
Korea MCN startup Treasure Hunter aims for leading K-content maker
Song Jae-yong, a leader of the new business taskforce team at South Korea’s CJ ENM Co. went to New York in 2013 to have business meetings for ...
Nov 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
CJ ENM acquires renowned director Park Chan-wook’s Moho Film
South Korea’s entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM Co. has acquired Moho Film, a domestic production company owned by Park Chan-wook, one of the co...
Nov 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
SM Entertainment founder’s final audition: New owner
“It was not like an M&A negotiation but rather an audition by Lee Soo-man,” said a source at a company that is looking to buy a stak...
Nov 01, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Shinhan Financial acquires BNP Paribas Cardif General Insurance
Shinhan Financial Group has acquired BNP Paribas Cardif General Insurance, the non-life insurance unit of French banking group BNP Paribas in a move...
Nov 01, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Korea’s major refiners bid for top local biodiesel material maker
SK Innovation Co., S-Oil Corp. and Hyundai Oilbank were among the preliminary bidders for South Korea’s top biodiesel material maker DK O&...
Oct 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean chipmakers
SK Hynix in $492 million Key Foundry deal, doubles foundry capacity
SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, said on Friday it is acquiring a 100% stake in South Korea-based Key Foundry for 5...
Oct 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Energy
SK E&S in talks to sell ESS, solar energy projects
SK E&S Co. is in talks with a number of private equity firms and financial investors to sell energy storage systems (ESS) and solar energy devel...
Oct 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
K-pop fan engagement platform DearU prices IPO above range
DearU Co, a K-pop fandom platform in South Korea, priced its initial public offering above the price range on Thursday thanks to heated demand. The ...
Oct 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Naver, Mirae Asset ramp up investment in India’s promising startups
South Korea’s top online platform operator Naver Corp. and brokerage giant Mirae Asset Securities Co. are aggressively investing in promi...
Oct 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
4 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Namyang top shareholder barred from casting vote at general meeting
Namyang Dairy Products Co.'s top shareholder and Chairman Hong Won-sik will be barred from exercising his shareholder rights at the company's genera...
Oct 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Batteries
LG Chem to set up separator JV in Hungary with Toray of Japan
LG Chem Ltd., South Korea’s top chemical maker, has agreed to set up a joint venture with Japan’s Toray Industries Inc. for the producti...
Oct 27, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Shipping & Shipbuilding
SM Line sees light at the end of the tunnel: SM Group’s Woo
When SM Group, formerly known as Samla Midas Group, took over assets of bankrupt Hanjin Shipping Co., for 37 billion won ($32 million) at the end of...
Oct 27, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean chipmakers
SK Hynix to buy back ex-foundry unit after strong Q3 results
SK Hynix Inc. will be buying back the remaining stake in its former unit Key Foundry to double its foundry capacity, after its third-quarter operati...
Oct 26, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
4 Min readlanguage -
IPOs
Kakao Pay sets IPO price at top end on heated demand
Kakao Group’s payment services unit Kakao Pay Corp. set the initial public offering price at the top end of the proposed band thanks to strong...
Oct 22, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read -
M&As
Edison CEO aspires to be Korea’s Elon Musk with Ssangyong takeover
Kang Young-kwon, chairman and chief executive of South Korea’s Edison Motors Co., was virtually unheard of in the country’s automobile i...
Oct 22, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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K-pop copyright trading platform Musicow prepares for IPO
Musicow Inc., South Korea's first music copyright trading platform, has embarked on the process to go public on the back of its eye-catching growth ...
Oct 21, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min read
Latest News
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