The korea economic daily

Financing

Naver mulls more global bond sale, webtoon unit's IPO

South Korea’s top online portal Naver Corp. is considering more dollar bond sales after it raised $500 million last month in its first foreign ...

Startup IPOs

Referral-based job portal Wantedlab applies for H2 IPO

Wantedlab Inc., South Korea's first referral-based recruiting platform, is aiming to list on the country's junior Kosdaq market in the second half of...

Capital raising

SK E&S seeks global IB to raise up to $3 bn in 2021

SK E&S Co. will hire a global investment bank to launch the process of raising 2 trillion-3 trillion won ($2 billion-$3 billion) in new capital w...

IPOs

Kakao Bank applies for preliminary review of 2021 IPO

Kakao Bank, South Korea's No.1 mobile banking app., has kicked off the process to go public by applying for a preliminary review of its stock market ...

Investment returns

Korean funds, firms eye jackpot from Grab’s Nasdaq listing

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), other state-run savings funds and big companies are expected to pocket decent gains from their i...

IPOs

Hyundai Engineering seeks Q3 IPO; seen as precursor to group revamp

Hyundai Engineering Co., an unlisted construction affiliate of the Hyundai Motor Group, is seeking an initial public offering on the Korean bourse, a...

Foreign currency bonds

Kia raises $700 mn in foreign green bonds

Kia Corp. has issued its first foreign currency ESG bonds worth $700 million to strengthen its investment in electric vehicles and other eco-friendly...

[Exclusive] Foreign currency bonds

Hanwha Solutions eyes $300 mn green dim sum bond issue

Hanwha Solutions Corp., a South Korean petrochemical and renewable energy company, plans to raise 2 billion yuan ($300 million) in a green bond issue...

IPOs

PUBG publisher applies for South Korean 2021 IPO

South Korea-based game developer Krafton Inc., touted as one of this year's hottest initial public offerings, has filed a preliminary listing applica...

Platform valuations

Kakao Entertainment’s enterprise value seen above $8.9 billion

Kakao Entertainment Corp. is working to make a trading debut on the domestic bourse in the latter part of this year or in 2022 at the latest. And tha...

PE investments

Korean PE Centroid among shortlisted bidders for TaylorMade Golf

South Korea’s lesser-known private equity firm Centroid Investment Partners is among the shortlisted candidates for US sports equipment manufac...

Kakao Japan seeks $446 million from Anchor Equity

Kakao Corp.’s Japanese unit, which operates Japan’s largest webtoon platform Piccoma, is in talks to attract as much as 500 billion won (...

IPOs

Korean casino game developer revives Nasdaq IPO plan

DoubleDown Interactive LLC, a South Korean social casino game publisher, has resumed its Nasdaq listing process, tapping the red-hot US IPO market wi...

Stake sale

SK Hynix ponders fate of Kioxia stake after bids by Micron, WDC

The reported bids to buy Japanese chipmaker Kioxia Holdings Corp. by Micron Technology Inc. and Western Digital Corp. is raising market chatter over ...

IPO valuations

SK IE Technology’s IPO plan to get boost from ITC ruling

SK IE Technology Co. (SKIET), set to make a trading debut on Korea’s main bourse in May, is expected to get a favorable review in assessing its...

Fintech platforms

SoftBank-backed Balance Hero raises $10 mn in debt funding from India

South Korean fintech startup Balance Hero has raised around $10 million in debt funding led by the India-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) N...

IPOs

Snowballing losses cloud Hyundai Heavy’s 2021 IPO plans

South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. saw its net losses snowball in 2020, clouding its initial public offering plans for this year.A...

Portfolio readjustments

NPS under fire over rule change to raise domestic stock purchase limit

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) came under fire over its expected rule change aimed at raising the upper limit for domestic stock ...

Debt issues

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 i...

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 expec...

IPO fees

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 com...

Stock split

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 plann...

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 st...

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 sessio...

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 $49.25...

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 billion)...

IPO fees

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 1.4...

M&A financing

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 domest...

Bond issues

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 glob...

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 s...