Deals

Corporate bonds
Korea postpones forex bond sale to October
South Korea’s government delayed a sale of foreign exchange stabilization fund bonds to next month, disrupting local companies’ plans to issue debt.The Ministry of Economy and Finance postponed the issuance of the foreign currency-denom
Sep 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
-
Energy
SK E&S acquires US energy firm KCE, to invest $600 mn for expansion
SK E&S Co., the natural gas business unit of SK Group, has acquired Key Capture Energy LLC (KCE), a US operator of energy storage projects, as t...
Sep 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Mergers & Acquisitions
KT, Daishin PE acquire 100% stake in global data firm Epsilon
South Korea’s major telecom company KT Corp. is expanding investments in future growth areas outside the traditional mobile sector. KT said on...
Sep 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read -
Retail
Korea’s Simone: Rise from replica handbag maker to luxury brand
UIWANG, Gyeonggi Province – Simone Acc. Collection Ltd., a South Korean luxury handbag maker, stresses one interesting number to its clients w...
Sep 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min readlanguage -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Netmarble acquires Canadian game studio for $165 mn
South Korea's Netmarble Corp. has acquired Canada's mobile game developer Ludia Inc. for $165 million, the latest in a series of its cross-border ac...
Sep 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read -
Pharamaceuticals
Korea’s Genome & Company aims US CMO market
South Korea’s microbiome medicine developer Genome & Company geared up for entering the U.S. market to boost profits and make inroads into...
Sep 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Petrochemicals
SK holds off indefinitely on petrochem unit stake sale
South Korea's SK Innovation Co. has put on hold indefinitely its plan to sell up to a 49% stake in SK Geocentric Co., formerly known as SK Global Ch...
Sep 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read -
IPOs
Hyundai Heavy becomes third-most subscribed Korean IPO
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. became the third-most subscribed stock in South Korea after its initial public offering drew 1,130 trillion won ($968 b...
Sep 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min readlanguage -
Debt financing
LG set to fund OLED plant expansion with over $400 mn in new bonds
LG Display Co. will likely raise around 500 billion ($430 million) in new bond issues, more than its planned 300 billion won, to finance the expansi...
Sep 07, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min read -
M&As
Korean beauty brand Too Cool For School is up for sale
Too Cool For School Corp., a South Korean budget makeup and beauty brand, is up for sale as its two co-CEOs and related parties aim to sell their en...
Sep 07, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Strategic buyers line up for IMM-led $1.3 bn Hanssem deal
LX Hausys Ltd., South Korea's leading building materials maker, on Monday announced a plan to join Seoul-based IMM Private Equity in acquiring a con...
Sep 06, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min read -
M&As
SK Ecoplant to sell plant building business before IPO
SK Ecoplant Co., formerly known as SK Engineering & Construction Co., is in advanced stages of talks with a consortium of South Korea-based IUM ...
Sep 06, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
TikTok owner ByteDance in talks to invest $43 mn in Korea’s KidariStudio
South Korea’s online content platform KidariStudio Inc. will likely attract 50 billion won ($43 million) from China’s ByteDance Ltd., th...
Sep 06, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min readlanguage -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Burger King's Korea, Japan operations up for sale
Affinity Equity Partners is putting Burger King's operations in South Korea and Japan up for sale, after the US hamburger franchise overtook its big...
Sep 06, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Samsung sells $1.3 bn stake in China’s BYD, keeps watchers puzzled
Samsung Electronics Co. has sold a 1.6% stake worth 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in Chinese electric vehicle and rechargeable battery maker BYD C...
Sep 06, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Venture capital
Korea VC firms reap big rewards for investing in early-stage startups
When KNet Investment Partners LLC, a South Korean venture capital company, invested 9.9 billion won ($8.6 million) in Krafton Inc. in 2009, the game...
Sep 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
4 Min readlanguage -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Korea Post nets nearly $1 bn from KakaoBank block sale
Korea Post has netted slightly over 1 trillion won ($861 million) from the block sale of its shares in South Korea's largest internet-only lender Ka...
Sep 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min read -
IPOs
Hyundai to step up push into eco-friendly ships with IPO
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. plans to spend 70% of the proceeds from its initial public offering on the Korea Exchange, or about 760 billion won ($6...
Sep 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min readlanguage -
Biotech
Korea’s bio startup Voronoi inks $324 million deal with Brickell Biotech
Voronoi Inc., a South Korean biotechnology startup, has clinched a $324 million deal to grant Brickell Biotech, a US clinical-stage pharmaceutical f...
Sep 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min readlanguage -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Namyang Dairy-Hahn & Co. saga enters new chapter: Legal fight
Namyang Dairy Products Co.'s top shareholder and Chairman Hong Won-sik on Wednesday notified Hahn & Co. of the termination of the 310.7 billion ...
Sep 01, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
5 Min read -
M&As
Lotte teams up with IMM PE to acquire furniture maker Hanssem
Lotte Group is seeking to acquire a stake in Hanssem Co., South Korea’s largest furniture and home furnishing company, with an investment of u...
Sep 01, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min readlanguage -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Interpark draws cool response from Korean online giants
South Korea’s online retail platform Interpark Corp. has failed to drum up interest from the country's largest online platforms, including Nav...
Aug 31, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read -
IPOs
Blackstone, Hahn & Co. to reap $800 mn from two Korean IPOs
South Korea's largest used car seller K Car Co., wholly owned by Hahn & Co., will go public on the country's main stock exchange in October, whi...
Aug 31, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Behind the scenes of GS-led group's $1.5 bn Hugel purchase
South Korea's energy-to-construction conglomerate GS Group was not considered a serious bidder when it entered the race for a 46.9% stake in the cou...
Aug 31, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
4 Min read -
IPOs
Kakao Pay cuts IPO price by 6% for October listing
Kakao Pay Corp., the digital settlement platform unit of South Korea’s top messaging app operator Kakao Corp., has slashed its initial publi...
Aug 31, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min read -
Banking & Finance
K Bank valued at $6.9 billion, needs to expand loans: Morgan Stanley
K Bank, the digital banking unit of South Korea’s telecom giant KT Corp., is valued at 8 trillion won ($6.9 billion) and could further raise i...
Aug 31, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Hahn & Co. sues Namyang owner over completion of $267 mn deal
South Korea’s private equity firm Hahn & Co. filed a lawsuit against the owner of Namyang Dairy Products and his family to complete a $267...
Aug 30, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min read -
Investment banking
BofA emerges as top dealmaker of S.Korea's mega M&As
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA) has emerged as the top M&A dealmaker in South Korea this year, working on a combined 8 trillion won ($7 bil...
Aug 30, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Coffeebanhada, known for robot barista, seeks investment for expansion
Coffeebanhada, a South Korean budget coffee chain operator, is seeking to attract investment from private equity funds and strategic investors.Accor...
Aug 30, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min read -
Corporate bonds
Korean firms scramble for bond sales on further rate hike views
South Korean companies rushed to issues bonds as the Bank of Korea is expected to raise interest rates further, ramping up financing costs. Some war...
Aug 27, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
4 Min read
Latest News
- 1 Maybe Happy Ending: How a Seoul-made robot love story rewrote Broadway playbook
- 2 NPS yet to schedule external manager selection; PE firms’ fundraising woes deepen
- 3 Woori Financial wins approval for Tongyang, ABL Life acquisition
- 4 BMW surpasses Mercedes in Korean sales amid imported vehicle market shake-up
- 5 Seoul appeal: Korean art captivates Indonesia’s affluent connoisseurs