Deals

IPOs
Valuation woes weigh down Krafton on Kospi debut
South Korean game developer Krafton Inc. made a disappointing local stock market debut on Aug. 10 amid concerns of overvaluation.Krafton opened at 448,500 won ($391.2) a share on the main Kospi, 11% lower than its initial public offering (IPO
Aug 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Energy
Hanwha Solutions acquires French renewable firm RES for $860 million
Hanwha Solutions Corp., the energy unit of chemicals-to-financial conglomerate Hanwha Group, is acquiring a 100% stake in RES Mediterranee SAS, a Fr...
Aug 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
Lotte Rental invests over $20 mn in autonomous driving startup ahead of IPO
South Korea's largest car rental and auto leasing company Lotte Rental Co. is set to invest 25 billion won ($21.8 million) in a domestic autonomous ...
Aug 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&As
Naver to acquire 20% of Cafe24 to strengthen e-commerce presence
Naver Corp., South Korea’s top online portal, is set to acquire 20% of Cafe24, a Seoul-based global e-commerce solutions provider, to expand i...
Aug 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Korean activist fund KCGI joins in consortium to buy Ssangyong
A South Korean electric bus maker Edison Motors Co. added the activist fund Korea Corporate Government Improvement Fund (KCGI) as a financial invest...
Aug 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Hyundai Heavy gets approval for IPO
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. got approval for an initial public offering (IPO) from South Korea’s stock exchange. The country’s top ship...
Aug 06, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&As
LG Group to put facility management unit of S&I Corp. up for sale
South Korea’s LG Group will put the facility management division of its affiliate S&I Corp. up for sale amid talk that a sale of the unit ...
Aug 06, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
KakaoBank becomes Korea's most valuable lender
KakaoBank Corp. became South Korea’s first listed internet-only bank and the country's most valuable lender upon its trading debut on Aug. 6...
Aug 06, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min readlanguage -
Travel & Leisure
Yanolja CIO says its AI vision played key role in SoftBank investment
Korean travel startup Yanolja’s Chief Investment Officer said that artificial intelligence (AI) was the keyword that played a decisive role in...
Aug 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Hydrogen economy
Hyundai Motor to make equity investment in Germany’s H2 Mobility
Hyundai Motor Co. is investing in H2 Mobility Deutschland GmbH & Co., a German operator of hydrogen fueling stations, as the top South Korean au...
Aug 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
F&F may pay $350 mn for TaylorMade without Korean sales license
South Korean outdoor clothing retailer F&F Co. may not be able to sell apparel of TaylorMade Golf Co. in the country even after a $350 million t...
Aug 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Capital raising
KKR, IMM PE in bid for SK E&S' $2 bn preferred shares
KKR & Co., IMM Private Equity and Glenwood Private Equity are among the preliminary bidders for 2 trillion won ($1.9 billion) worth of new prefe...
Aug 04, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Heirless, baby boomer SME owners in search of buyers
The son of a South Korean manufacturing company's owner, with a Ph.D degree in engineering, has refused to take over his father's business and inste...
Aug 04, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Market Kurly's IPO plans dwarfed by SSG.COM's IPO talk
Kurly Inc., which runs South Korea's online grocery delivery service Market Kurly, has tentatively halted its IPO process, about a month after it an...
Aug 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&As
China's top travel agency to join bid for Korea's online retail platform
China’s leading online travel agency (OTA) Trip.com will be joining the race to acquire South Korea’s online retail platform Interpark C...
Aug 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Corporate bonds
KOMIPO raises $300 mn in dollar bonds at lower-than-expected cost
Korea Midland Power Co. (KOMIPO) raised $300 million in a dollar corporate bond at a lower interest rate than planned on strong demand among foreign...
Aug 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Netmarble bets $2.2 bn on global social casino game market
South Korean game developer Netmarble Corp. decided to buy the world’s No. 3 social casino game publisher SpinX Games for $2.2 billion, bettin...
Aug 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
CJ joins race for over $200 mn stake in SM Entertainment
South Korea's entertainment- and food-focused CJ Group has emerged as a darkhorse to buy a controlling stake worth about 300 billion won ($260 milli...
Aug 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Mid-sized Korean groups pave way for PEFs' stalled exits
Hoban Group, started as a small residential rental company in Gwangju in 1989, has now emerged as a major player in South Korea's M&A market, in...
Aug 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
MBK seeks to exit Japan's top golf course operator
MBK Partners, a North Asia-focused private equity firm, is seeking to exit Japan's largest golf course operator Accordia Next Golf to capitalize on ...
Aug 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Hahn & Co’s $270 mn deal to buy Namyang Dairy at risk of collapse
South Korean private equity (PE) firm Hahn & Co.’s deal to acquire Namyang Dairy Products is at risk of collapse as the owner and his fami...
Jul 30, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Ssangyong draws HAAH and electric bus, scooter makers
Ssangyong Motor Co., a troubled South Korean sports utility vehicle maker, has drawn nine preliminary bidders, including a US automobile distributor...
Jul 30, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
HK inno.N’s IPO attracts $25 bn from retail investors
HK inno.N Corp. (inno.N), a pharmaceuticals unit of Kolmar Korea, drew a massive $25 billion from retail investors for its listing thanks to its s...
Jul 30, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Krafton sets IPO price at top end despite soft institutional demand
South Korean game developer Krafton Inc. set the initial public offering (IPO) price at the top end of the proposed band even as the largest domesti...
Jul 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Investors revalue E-Mart after owning two-thirds of Starbucks Korea
Shares of E-Mart Inc., South Korea’s largest retailer, are rallying after the company bought an extra stake in Starbucks Korea to control two-...
Jul 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
HK inno.N’s IPO price set at top end with record demand for Kosdaq listing
HK inno.N Corp. (inno.N), a pharmaceuticals unit of South Korea's Kolmar Korea, set the initial public offering price at the top end of the proposed...
Jul 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Energy
CS Wind buys Portugal's offshore wind energy firm
CS Wind Corp., the global leader in the wind tower market, has agreed to buy a majority stake in Portugal's largest wind tower manufacturer ASM Indu...
Jul 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min readlanguage -
IPOs
Krafton IPO draws tepid demand from institutional investors
South Korean game developer Krafton Inc.’s initial public offering, the largest domestic IPO in the second half, drew weaker demand from insti...
Jul 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Tencent, Korea Value poised to see sixfold return from KakaoBank
Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings, Korea Value Asset Management Co. and South Korea's top lender Kookmin Bank are among a group of sharehold...
Jul 27, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
PEFs claim one-third of S.Korea's M&A deals in H1
Private equity firms (PEFs) have participated in one in every three buyout deals involving South Korean companies in the first six months of the yea...
Jul 27, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read
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