Deals

Mergers & Acquisitions
Doosan near completing self-rescue plan with E&C sale
South Korea's Doosan Group is near finalizing a deal to sell Doosan Engineering & Construction Co. (Doosan E&C) to a consortium led by Seoul-based Q Capital Partners Co. The transaction, if completed, will allow the conglomerate to terminat
Nov 12, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Metaverse
Medical 3D tech startup Anymedi eyes 2022 Kosdaq IPO
Anymedi Solution Co., South Korea's medical metaverse startup, has applied for a preliminary review of its initial public offering on the junior Kos...
Nov 12, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Retail
SK to invest $340 mn in Vietnam’s major retail platform The CrownX
South Korea’s conglomerate SK Group said on Nov. 11 that it agreed to invest $340 million in The CrownX, a retail platform of Masan Group Corp...
Nov 11, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Batteries
POSCO Chem's rise from brickworks to EV materials leader
POHANG, South Korea - When POSCO Chemical Co., better known as a refractory brick manufacturer until the early 1990s, announced its entry into the a...
Nov 11, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Home interior app seeks new funding at over $ 1 bn valuation
South Korea's Bucketplace Co., an operator of the country's largest home interior platform, is seeking to raise about 100 billion won ($85 million) ...
Nov 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Corporate bonds
Korea’s Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen maker to issue first bond
South Korea’s Samyang Foods Co., the maker of the Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen, plans to issue its first corporate bonds ever as it is expanding b...
Nov 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Orchestra PE buys Korean pizza brand Banolim
Orchestra Private Equity set up Orchestra Private Equity IV (OPE IV) to invest $32 million in Korea’s pizza chain operator Banolim Food Co. an...
Nov 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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E-commerce
MBK seeks to buy two S.Korean e-commerce platforms
MBK Partners is in talks to buy management rights of two e-commerce platforms listed on South Korea's Kosdaq market in a package deal, according to ...
Nov 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Legal data firm FiscalNote to list on Nasdaq via $1.3 bn SPAC deal
FiscalNote Holdings Inc., a US legal data and analytics company founded by a Korean-American, is set to go public in a deal valued at $1.3 billion. ...
Nov 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Race for CJ Olive Young IPO underwriting deal heats up
The competition to underwrite a listing of CJ Olive Young, South Korea’s top beauty store chain, is intensifying with some brokerage houses va...
Nov 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
CJ Cheiljedang to acquire Dutch bio firm Batavia for 195 million euros
CJ Cheiljedang Corp., a key subsidiary of South Korea’s food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, said on Monday it is acquiring Batavia B...
Nov 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Travel startups draw new funds amid digital transformation
As South Korea loosened social distancing measures for a gradual return to normal life this week, investors are rekindling their interest in travel ...
Nov 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Korea’s Netmarble Neo drops listing plan as sentiment sours
South Korea’s game developer Netmarble Neo decided to withdraw its initial public offering plan as sentiment in the primary market sours amid ...
Nov 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
KKR invests $2 bn in SK E&S' new preferred shares
KKR & Co. has signed an agreement to buy 2.4 trillion won ($2 billion) worth of newly-issued preferred shares in SK E&S Co., the US private ...
Nov 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
HYBE, Korea cryptocurrency exchange operator to co-launch BTS NFTs
HYBE Co., the label behind BTS, is expected to launch non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for assets of the world’s top boy band alongside the operator...
Nov 04, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Kakao Pay slips on profit-taking after strong KOSPI debut
Kakao Pay Corp. ’s stock tumbled after a strong debut on the South Korean main stock market as investors booked profits, keeping an eye on if ...
Nov 04, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Investment banking
Goldman promotes TMT banker to MD in Seoul
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Nov. 2 announced the promotions of two Korean executive directors in its Seoul office to managing directors (MDs), the b...
Nov 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
AI human developer MINDs Lab aims for November IPO
South Korea’s top artificial intelligence (AI) developer MINDs Lab Inc. is aiming to list on the Kosdaq market within this month. While the ...
Nov 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
SM Line joins growing list of S.Korean IPO dropouts
SM Line Corp. on Wednesday became the latest South Korean company to drop its initial public offering plan on disappointing institutional interest.T...
Nov 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Specialty coffee brand Terarosa raises $60 mn from Unison Capital
The operator of Terarosa, known as the Blue Bottle Coffee of South Korea, has received around 70 billion won ($60 million) in funding from Unison Ca...
Nov 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Upcoming IPOs
Korea MCN startup Treasure Hunter aims for leading K-content maker
Song Jae-yong, a leader of the new business taskforce team at South Korea’s CJ ENM Co. went to New York in 2013 to have business meetings for ...
Nov 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
CJ ENM acquires renowned director Park Chan-wook’s Moho Film
South Korea’s entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM Co. has acquired Moho Film, a domestic production company owned by Park Chan-wook, one of the co...
Nov 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
SM Entertainment founder’s final audition: New owner
“It was not like an M&A negotiation but rather an audition by Lee Soo-man,” said a source at a company that is looking to buy a stak...
Nov 01, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Shinhan Financial acquires BNP Paribas Cardif General Insurance
Shinhan Financial Group has acquired BNP Paribas Cardif General Insurance, the non-life insurance unit of French banking group BNP Paribas in a move...
Nov 01, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Korea’s major refiners bid for top local biodiesel material maker
SK Innovation Co., S-Oil Corp. and Hyundai Oilbank were among the preliminary bidders for South Korea’s top biodiesel material maker DK O&...
Oct 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean chipmakers
SK Hynix in $492 million Key Foundry deal, doubles foundry capacity
SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, said on Friday it is acquiring a 100% stake in South Korea-based Key Foundry for 5...
Oct 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Energy
SK E&S in talks to sell ESS, solar energy projects
SK E&S Co. is in talks with a number of private equity firms and financial investors to sell energy storage systems (ESS) and solar energy devel...
Oct 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
K-pop fan engagement platform DearU prices IPO above range
DearU Co, a K-pop fandom platform in South Korea, priced its initial public offering above the price range on Thursday thanks to heated demand. The ...
Oct 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Naver, Mirae Asset ramp up investment in India’s promising startups
South Korea’s top online platform operator Naver Corp. and brokerage giant Mirae Asset Securities Co. are aggressively investing in promi...
Oct 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Namyang top shareholder barred from casting vote at general meeting
Namyang Dairy Products Co.'s top shareholder and Chairman Hong Won-sik will be barred from exercising his shareholder rights at the company's genera...
Oct 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min read
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