Deals

Mergers & Acquisitions
CJ ENM to invest $82 million in KT to strengthen OTT partnership
South Korean entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM Co. said on Monday it will invest 100 billion won ($82.3 million) in KT Studio Genie, a content production subsidiary of telecommunications giant KT Corp. to strengthen their partnership in original co
Mar 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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RFPs
SK Ecoplant eyes H2 2023 Kospi listing
SK Ecoplant Co., South Korea's largest waste management company, said on Monday it has sent a request for proposal to major brokerage companies at h...
Mar 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Korea Hana teams up with British developer Nick Candy in Chelsea bid
South Korea’s Hana Financial Group has joined the race to buy English Premier League club Chelsea in a consortium with British property develo...
Mar 20, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Tech, Media & Telecom
LG Elec. to sell automotive wireless smartphone charging division
South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. plans to drop its automotive wireless smartphone charging unit as the global home appliance giant exited fro...
Mar 20, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Goldman exits Korean beauty startup without profit
Goldman Sachs has divested of its stake worth 75 billion won ($62 million) in South Korea's cosmetics startup GP Club Co. without a profit due to de...
Mar 18, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Korean IPOs delayed after bourse's sweeping reshuffle
Scores of South Korean initial public offerings slated for the first half of this year have been delayed after the bourse operator carried out a lar...
Mar 17, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Innocean to wholly own US media agency Canvas with 49% stake buy
Innocean Worldwide Holdings Inc., a South Korean marketing company, will wholly own US media agency joint venture Canvas Worldwide LLC by acquiring ...
Mar 16, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Morgan Stanley to sell Jeonju Paper for around $803 mn
New York-based Morgan Stanley Private Equity is slated to sell its entire stake in Jeonju Paper Corp., South Korea's top newsprint producer, and its...
Mar 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Kakao closes in on $800 mn deal to buy SM Entertainment stake
Kakao Entertainment Corp., a unit of South Korea's top mobile messenger app, is in the final stages of talks to buy a controlling stake in SM Entert...
Mar 11, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Corporate investment
SK units at risk of rating cuts on aggressive investments
South Korea’s SK Group units focusing on investments in new eco-friendly industries are facing risks of credit rating downgrades.Investors hav...
Mar 10, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
K Car's evolution into top Korean used car sales platform
When Seoul-based private equity firm Hahn & Co. acquired K Car Co. from SK Group in 2018, the No. 1 used car retailer in South Korea controlled ...
Mar 08, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
SK Group's PE-funded transformation in the spotlight
SK Group stands out from other South Korean conglomerates in making good use of private equity funds to raise money for business expansion.The count...
Mar 07, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Upcoming IPOs
Korea’s Voronoi in talks with global firms on drug designs
South Korea’s biotechnology startup Voronoi Inc. is in talks with global biomedical companies on drug designs as it aims to expand the busines...
Mar 04, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Korean SPAC Valuence Merger debuts on Nasdaq, targets bio M&As
Valuence Merger Corp. 1, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), led by South Korean fund managers, has debuted on the Nasdaq, targeting Asian...
Mar 04, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Shares in Nexon, two listed arms rise on M&A hopes
The unexpected death of Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju stoked market speculation about a possible change in its ownership structure and top management, s...
Mar 02, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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War in Ukraine
Korea corp. borrowing costs to rise further on Russia risks
South Korean companies are expected to pay more for fundraising as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has chilled investor sentiment on corporate bo...
Mar 02, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Ridi becomes first Korean content platform unicorn
Ridi Corp., often referred to as South Korea's Kindle, has received funding of 120 billion won ($100 million) from Singapore's GIC and three domesti...
Feb 28, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&As
Korea Investment in $4.4 bn lending group for Tropicana deal
Korea Investment & Securities Co. will arrange senior and mezzanine loans for Paris-based PAI Partners to fund its acquisition of Tropicana an...
Feb 28, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pre-IPOs
SK Ecoplant raises over $800 mn from Korean PE firms
South Korea's SK Ecoplant Co. has raised a total of 1 trillion won ($830 million) from four domestic private equity firms, including 390 billion won...
Feb 28, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
SK On narrows bidders to BlackRock, Carlyle, KKR, GIC
South Korean battery maker SK On Co. has narrowed bidders for its shares worth up to $3.3 billion to four candidates -- BlackRock, The Carlyle Group...
Feb 24, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pharmaceuticals
Samsung Bioepis to double biosimilars, may resume Nasdaq listing plans
Samsung Bioepis Co., a biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group, plans to double the number of its biosimilar products on sale to 10 by 2025 and acce...
Feb 24, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Korean battery sector to heat up IPO market again
South Korea’s battery industry is expected to heat up the initial public offering market later this year as battery materials and equipment ma...
Feb 23, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Korea approves Korean Air-Asiana merger; hurdles remain
The proposed merger of Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc. has moved one step closer to completion with approval by South Korea’s an...
Feb 22, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
SK Ecoplant buys e-waste recycling firm for $1 bn
South Korea's SK Ecoplant Co. has acquired Singapore-based electronic waste (e-waste) disposal and recycling company TES Envirocorp Pte. Ltd for $1 ...
Feb 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&As
LS-Nikko Copper to sell $670 million JV stake to Korean PEFs
LS-Nikko Copper Co., the world’s second-largest electrolytic copper maker, is set to sell an 800 billion won ($670 million) stake in a joint v...
Feb 20, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korean drone manufacturer aims for 2023 Kosdaq IPO
South Korea's commercial drone manufacturer Nearthlab plans to apply for an initial public offering this year to get listed on the junior Kosdaq mar...
Feb 17, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Food & Beverage
Shinsegae acquires Napa Valley winery Shafer Vineyards for $250 million
South Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae Inc. has acquired US winery Shafer Vineyards for $250 million to consolidate its leadership in the domest...
Feb 16, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Batteries
SK On's $4 bn funding draws PE giants, GIC, Saudi PIF
BlackRock, Blackstone, Singapore's GIC and Saudi's Public Investment Fund (PIF) are among the preliminary bidders for shares worth up to $4.2 billio...
Feb 16, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Central bank
BOK’s mission impossible: To lower both inflation and govt bond yields
South Korea’s central bank is caught in a dilemma as it needs to raise interest rates to curb rising inflationary pressure in Asia’s fou...
Feb 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
KT to join MBK, IMM in Megazone Cloud's $400 mn funding
KT Corp., South Korea's No. 2 telecom operator, has decided to invest 130 billion won ($110 million) in Megazone Cloud Corp., the country's largest ...
Feb 15, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage
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