Deals

Mergers & Acquisitions
Lotte buys S.Korea’s top secondhand e-commerce platform
South Korea’s retail giant Lotte is expanding its presence in the e-commerce sector with the acquisition of Joonggonara, the country’s largest online marketplace for used items. Lotte has also recently entered the race to purchase eBay
Mar 23, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Debt financing
Naver issues $500 million in first foreign debt amid strong demand
South Korea’s top online portal Naver Corp. has successfully issued its first foreign currency bonds worth $500 million amid strong demand as ...
Mar 23, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Bio business
Lotte advances into bio business, to acquire stake in Enzychem
South Korea’s Lotte Group is entering the bio business for the first time in its history by acquiring a significant stake in Enzychem Lifescie...
Mar 23, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min readlanguage -
IPOs
Travel platform Yanolja eyes US IPO in dual listing
South Korea’s largest travel platform Yanolja has begun the internal process to list in both the US and South Korea, by which the company expe...
Mar 22, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Hahn & Co. to put Korean auto parts maker up for sale
South Korea's private equity firm Hahn & Co. is seeking to sell a majority stake in Hanon Systems, a Korean automotive supplier, which is expect...
Mar 19, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Lawyers on move
Global law firms in Korea hunt for talent amid growing outbound M&As
Leading international law firms with offices in South Korea are gearing up for growing legal service demand from local companies in their push for m...
Mar 19, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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BofA replaces Korea IB head, country manager
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA) has named managing director Cho Chanhee as its South Korean investment banking head to replace Park SeungGu who...
Mar 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Coupang's US listing: How to split $95.6 mn underwriting fees?
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Allen & Company and six other underwriters of Coupang Corp.'s US stock market listing last week are set to receive a co...
Mar 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean stock market
Krafton plans 5-for-1 share split ahead of over $880 million IPO
South Korean games developer Krafton Inc., 13.2% owned by Tencent Holdings’ investment arm, plans a five-for-one share split ahead of its plan...
Mar 17, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
Hyundai Motor invests in Clearpath Robotics in push for future mobility
Hyundai Motor Co. has invested $5 million in Clearpath Robotics Inc., a Canada-based robotics startup, in a stepped-up push to transform into a comp...
Mar 17, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Share swap
Shinsegae, Naver ink $221 mn share swap to rival Coupang in e-commerce
South Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae Group and top portal operator Naver Corp. have agreed to a 250 billion won ($221 million) share swap to s...
Mar 16, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min readlanguage -
Mergers & Acquisitions
eBay Korea draws SK Tel, Shinsegae and MBK
The sale of eBay Korea Inc., the country's third-largest online shopping platform, has attracted preliminary bids from leading Korean companies incl...
Mar 16, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Delivery Hero kicks off sale of S.Korea's No.2 delivery app Yogiyo
Germany-based online food delivery service Delivery Hero SE has kicked off the sale process of South Korea's second-largest food delivery app, Yogiy...
Mar 16, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min readlanguage -
Mergers & Acquisitions
SK Lubricants draws Japan's refiner Enoes, three PEFs
Japan's biggest refiner Enoes Corp. is one of the four final bidders for a minority stake in South Korea's SK Lubricants Co., wholly owned by SK Inn...
Mar 12, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Coupang CEO: S.Korean e-commerce market 'isn't small,' offers robust growth potential
South Korea's e-commerce giant Coupang Corp. had a successful trading debut in New York on Thursday as its shares soared by 41% in their first sessi...
Mar 12, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
5 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
SK Hynix's Intel NAND chip deal wins US regulatory approval
The US antitrust regulators have approved of SK Hynix Inc.'s $9 billion acquisition of Intel Corp.'s NAND memory chip business, also under review by...
Mar 12, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Coupang soars 41% on US trading debut
South Korea's Coupang Corp. made its trading debut in New York on Thursday, with shares rocketing 41% from their $35 opening price to close at $49.2...
Mar 12, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
4 Min readlanguage -
Private equity
Affirma, EastBridge to invest $350 mn in SK's mobility venture
Affirma Capital and South Korea-based EastBridge Partners will invest a combined 400 billion won ($350 million) in SK Telecom Co.'s mobility...
Mar 11, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Daewoo E&C up for sale; in talks with local PEF over $1.58 bn deal
Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. is up for sale as its main creditor hopes to cash out of the South Korean builder on the back of its impro...
Mar 11, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min readlanguage -
IPOs
SK Bioscience IPO draws record-high demand from retail investors
South Korean vaccine maker SK Bioscience Co. has set a new record for initial public offering demand, raising around 63.6 trillion won ($56 billio...
Mar 11, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Private equity
Carlyle ends negotiations to buy Korean bakery chain
The Carlyle Group has terminated three-month talks with South Korea’s CJ Group to buy the country’s No. 2 bakery chain Tous Les Jours, a...
Mar 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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SK Group's financial story: Measure, divest and focus
Last month, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group agreed to sell its 21-year-old baseball club SK Wyverns to the country’s leading...
Mar 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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SK in stake sale talks for SPC set up to buy Plug Power
SK Holdings Co. is in negotiations with several private equity firms to sell up to a 49% stake in a special purpose company (SPC) set up to invest $...
Mar 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
Kakao forays into pet taxi service; buys Pet Me Up
South Korea-based Kakao Mobility Corp., a subsidiary of mobile giant Kakao Corp., has acquired the country's leading pet taxi service, Pet Me Up, in...
Mar 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
eBay Korea set to fuel rivalry between retail, online giants
The planned sale of eBay Inc.’s South Korean operations is gathering steam ahead of Coupang Corp.'s US stock market listing this week, with th...
Mar 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
3 Min read -
IPOs
SK Bioscience’s $1.3 bn IPO generates $10 mn in underwriting fees
The initial public offering of SK Bioscience Co. was priced at the upper end of its price band of 65,000 won ($57.3) per share on Monday to raise 1....
Mar 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Energy
SK Innovation divests of stakes in US shale oil fields
SK Innovation Co. has sold its entire ownership in its US shale oil fields and their relevant facilities, in line with its parent group's efforts to...
Mar 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read -
Mergers & Acquisitions
Korean Air raises $2.9 bn in largest-ever share issue by Korean firm
Korean Air Lines Co. has raised 3.32 trillion won ($2.9 billion) from a new share sale as planned in the the largest-ever rights offering by a domes...
Mar 07, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage -
Corporate bonds
Naver picks underwriters for first global bond sale
Naver Corp., South Koreans’ largest online portal, has picked Morgan Stanley and Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities Co. to underwrite its first glo...
Mar 07, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
1 Min read -
IPOs
SK Bioscience attracts NPS, GIC in successful bookbuilding
South Korea-based SK Bioscience Co. has successfully concluded the bookbuilding for its initial public offering, attracting institutional investors ...
Mar 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage
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