SoftBank-backed
Scope
Date
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Business & Politics
Trump Jr. meets Korean business chiefs in back-to-back sessions
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of US President Donald Trump, spent his one-and-a-half-day visit to South Korea in back-to-back private meetings wi...
Apr 30, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Batteries
SK On seals $2.8 bn battery deal with Bezos-backed US EV start-up Slate
SK On Co., the battery subsidiary of South Korea’s energy conglomerate SK Group, has signed a supply agreement worth an estimated 4 trillion w...
Apr 25, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Earnings
KB Financial logs 61% profit growth, rebounding from ELS fiasco
KB Financial Group Inc. on Thursday reported a 61% jump in first-quarter profit, led by a nearly threefold rise in earnings at its flagship unit Koo...
Apr 24, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Alternative investments
Meritz backs half of ex-manager’s $210 mn hedge fund
Meritz Financial Group Inc., one of South Korea’s most aggressive alternative asset managers, has committed 150 billion won ($105 million) to ...
Apr 23, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
EQT set to invest in KKR-backed fashion unicorn Musinsa
EQT, Europe's largest private equity firm, is set to invest 20 billion to 30 billion won ($14 million-$21 million) in Musinsa, South Korea’s f...
Apr 14, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Travel & Leisure
SoftBank-backed Yanolja raises stake in Modetour as No. 2 shareholder
South Korea’s top travel and accommodation booking platform operator Yanolja Co. has increased its stake in travel agency Modetour Network Inc...
Mar 27, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banking & Finance
Hana Financial CEO set for reappointment with foreign investor backing
More than half of the foreign shareholders in Hana Financial Group have thrown their support behind Chief Executive Ham Young-joo for a second term,...
Mar 20, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
South Korean VCs back US humanoid robot developer Apptronik
South Korean venture capital firms invested undisclosed tens of billions of won, equivalent to tens of millions of dollars, in US humanoid-developin...
Mar 19, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Shipping & Shipbuilding
Korea’s Hanwha Ocean sends USNS Wally Schirra back to theater after MRO
A 210-meter, 40,000-ton US Navy vessel, heavily corroded and weathered from years of service, was pulled into Hanwha Ocean Co.'s shipyard in Ge...
Mar 14, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Shareholder value
Hana Financial to boost corporate value by raising shareholder returns
South Korea’s Hana Financial Group aims to increase corporate value by ramping up shareholder returns based on a sustainable profit structure ...
Feb 27, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Shipping & Shipbuilding
HD Hyundai in talks to buy back Korean ship parts maker
HD Hyundai Co., the world’s second-largest shipbuilder, is in talks with a private equity firm to buy back a South Korean ship parts manufactu...
Feb 10, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Beauty & Cosmetics
Korean beauty giants Amorepacific, LG H&H come back from China woes
South Korea’s two largest cosmetics makers, Amorepacific Corp. and LG H&H Co., are recovering from years of lackluster overseas business p...
Feb 06, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banking & Finance
KB Financial to buy back $359 bn in shares after record net profit in 2024
KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s largest financial holding group, will spend nearly 1.8 trillion won ($1.2 billion) to boost shareholder...
Feb 06, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Earnings
Hana Financial to buy back $280 mn shares after record 2024
Hana Financial Group will buy back 400 billion won ($280 million) worth of shares to retire, marking its largest-ever repurchase, in line with ongoi...
Feb 05, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
OpenAI, SoftBank tap Samsung for Stargate AI initiative
Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong discussed potential collaboration on the Stargate AI initiative with OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Alt...
Feb 04, 2025 (Gmt+09:00)
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Petrochemicals
Lotte Chemical’s JV to boost specialty chemicals output
Lotte Chemical Corp.'s joint venture with Japan’s Tokuyama Corp. will ramp up specialty chemicals production to accelerate its shift from...
Dec 27, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Corporate restructuring
NPS steps back from Doosan Robotics' Bobcat merger
The National Pension Service (NPS) appears to be stalling on a vote for Doosan Robotics Inc.'s merger with Doosan Bobcat Inc., with major proxy advi...
Dec 09, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Petrochemicals
HD Hyundai Oilbank ventures into bioenergy sector as new growth driver
HD Hyundai Oilbank Co., a South Korean crude oil refiner backed by Saudi Aramco, is diversifying its business beyond fossil fuel-centered operations...
Nov 29, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Central bank
BOK makes 1st back-to-back rate cut since 2009 global crisis
South Korea’s central bank lowered interest rates for a second straight meeting on Thursday in a surprise move and left the door open for anot...
Nov 28, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Shareholder value
Hyundai Motor to buy back $720 mn in shares
Hyundai Motor Co. said on Wednesday it will buy back 1 trillion won ($720 million) in shares in line with the government campaign to unlock corporat...
Nov 27, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
La Defense might have a say over Hanmi Pharm's family feud
La Defense Partners is expected to exercise a casting vote over the ongoing management dispute at Hanmi Science Co. after the Seoul-based private eq...
Nov 26, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Shareholder value
SK Square to buy back $72 mn shares amid Palliser's value-up push
SK Square Co., the investment arm of South Korea’s No. 2 conglomerate SK Group, announced shareholder-friendly measures on Thursday, in respon...
Nov 21, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Shareholder value
Samsung Electronics to buy back $7.2 bn in shares
Samsung Electronics Co. will buy back 10 trillion won ($7.2 billion) in shares over the next year to prop up its share price, which has plunged more...
Nov 17, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Shareholder activism
KT&G to buy back shares, rejects Ginseng unit buyout offer
South Korean tobacco maker KT&G Corp. on Thursday unveiled a plan to buy back shares and pay dividends totaling 3.7 trillion won ($2.7 billion) ...
Nov 08, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Earnings
Coupang posts record quarterly sales, swings to Q3 operating profit
Coupang Inc., South Korea’s answer to global e-commerce giant Amazon.com, posted its highest quarterly sales in the third quarter and swung to...
Nov 06, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banking & Finance
KB Financial to use excess capital for share buybacks, dividends
KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s largest financial holding group, is set to use its excess capital for share buybacks and dividends next...
Oct 25, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Cryptocurrencies
Growing dollar-backed stablecoin trades may destabilize Korean economy
Trading in dollar-backed stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to the US currency, in South Korea hit a record high amid complex and costly currency ...
Oct 08, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Robotics
Hyundai Movex to lead S. Korea’s unmanned robot project
South Korea’s Hyundai Movex Co. was selected to lead the design of a high-precision large autonomous mobile robot (AMR) platform and integra...
Oct 08, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
YC-backed Relate defies conventional wisdom for deeper integration
It may look like David versus Goliath, but Y Combinator-backed Relate has found a sweet spot where it can beat Salesforce in the sales customer rela...
Aug 27, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Korea’s Tmax Group buys back software developer for $612 mn
South Korea’s Tmax Group bought back the software making unit it had sold to a local private equity firm two years ago to try to boost synergy...
Aug 23, 2024 (Gmt+09:00)
Latest News
- 1 Seoul appeal: Korean art captivates Indonesia’s affluent connoisseurs
- 2 CJ CheilJedang scraps $3.5 bn green bio sale, shifts gears to expansion
- 3 Trump Jr. meets Korean business chiefs in back-to-back sessions
- 4 Samsung in talks to supply customized HBM4 to Nvidia, Broadcom, Google
- 5 Kookmin Bank raises $700 mn in forex bonds amid strong demand