Deals

Mergers & Acquisitions
Morgan Stanley tops S.Korea's H1 M&A league table
Morgan Stanley topped South Korea's M&A advisor league table in the first half of this year, working on six buyout deals worth a combined 9.75 trillion won ($8.6 billion), including the sale of eBay Korea.The US investment bank has become a key
Jun 30, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
SK REIT to raise $266 million via Kospi IPO in second half
SK Inc.’s real estate investment trust (REIT) affiliate plans to raise as much as 300 billion won ($266 million) via an initial public offerin...
Jun 30, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
HK inno.N poised to bolster S.Korea's IPO lineup in H2
HK inno.N Corp., a pharmaceuticals unit of South Korea's Kolmar Korea, is set to go public in early August at a valuation of around 2 trillion won (...
Jun 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Sale of Citibank Korea gains traction; preferred buyer may emerge in July
The sale of Citibank Korea’s consumer banking business is gaining traction as potential bidders have started due diligence of the bank, with e...
Jun 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pharmaceuticals
GS Group joins race to acquire Korea’s botox maker Hugel
A consortium led by South Korea’s GS Group is in talks to acquire a controlling stake in Hugel Inc., the country’s top maker of botulinu...
Jun 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
KakaoBank’s $2.3 bn IPO set to alter Korea’s banking landscape
KakaoBank Corp., the mobile banking unit of online messaging app giant Kakao Corp., is looking to raise as much as 2.55 trillion won ($2.26 billion)...
Jun 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Insurance
Taiwan’s Fubon Life raises stake in Korean unit via $405 mn rights offer
Fubon Life Insurance Co., a unit of Taiwan’s Fubon Financial Holding Co., has raised its stake in a Korean joint venture with Hyundai Motor Gr...
Jun 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Mobile game developer Netmarble Neo kicks off IPO process
Following in the footsteps of its bigger rival Krafton Inc., South Korean mobile game developer Netmarble Neo has kicked off its initial public offe...
Jun 27, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Korea’s M&A market heats up with record deals in first half
South Korea’s merger and acquisition market is heating up as both big conglomerates and promising startups seek to buy out businesses with gro...
Jun 27, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Krafton hiccup: Financial regulator concerned over high IPO share price
South Korean game developer Krafton Inc.'s road to an initial public offering is getting rocky with the country's financial regulator expressing con...
Jun 25, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Fried chicken chain bids for Outback Steakhouse Korea
South Korea's No. 2 fried chicken brand BHC Group has submitted a binding offer for the domestic operations of Outback Steakhouse, an Australian-the...
Jun 25, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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ESG bonds
LG Chem to issue up to $1bn ESG bonds; Moody’s raises outlook to positive
South Korea’s largest chemical producer LG Chem Ltd. plans to issue up to $1 billion in dollar-denominated green bonds to raise funds for its ...
Jun 25, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Delivery Hero's Korean unit sale hits dead end
Delivery Hero SE on Thursday postponed the deadline again for the final bidding of South Korea's Yogiyo, amid market doubts over the country's No. 2...
Jun 24, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Shinsegae now Korea’s No.2 e-commerce player with eBay Korea buyout
Shinsegae Group pushed through to be the sole winner in the prolonged race to acquire control of eBay Korea, making it a close runner-up in South Ko...
Jun 24, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Tech, Media & Telecom
Synopsys buys S.Korean fab data tech company
Synopsys Inc., a US software developer, has signed an agreement to acquire full ownership of BISTel, South Korea's top-ranked smart manufacturing so...
Jun 24, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Chemical Industry
Hanwha to buy $900 mn Hanwha General shares from Samsung
Two Hanwha Group units have decided to buy the remaining stake in their affiliate Hanwha General Chemical Co. for 1 trillion won ($880 million) from...
Jun 23, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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ESG bonds
Korean Air to issue first ESG bonds among Korean carriers
Korean Air Lines Co. will issue green bonds as part of its 200 billion won ($176 million) corporate debenture issue -- to become the first among dom...
Jun 23, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Automobiles
Carlyle, Bain Capital, Valeo, Mahle enter prelim bids for Hanon Systems
The preliminary bidding to acquire South Korea’s auto parts supplier Hanon Systems Corp. has drawn overseas-based bidders only, with the stron...
Jun 22, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
Hyundai eyes smart mobility with Boston Dynamics acquisition
Hyundai Motor Co. said on Monday it is shifting its business focus toward smart mobility from brick-and-mortar carmaking following its acquisition l...
Jun 21, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pharmaceuticals
SK Group mulls investing $100 mn in Vietnam's Pharmacity
SK Group is in the final stages of negotiations to invest $100 million in Vietnam's largest pharmacy chain, Pharmacity, as part of the South Korean ...
Jun 21, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Why fast-growing coffee chains fail to get listed in Korea
A Twosome Place has scrapped its initial public offering plans after being touted as the country’s first coffee chain to go public. This has r...
Jun 20, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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ESG
Korea’s coal power companies squeezed for financing amid ESG fever
South Korea’s coal power companies are facing tighter scrutiny for debt financing as they are increasingly shunned by financial investors amid...
Jun 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banking & Finance
Singapore emerges as new financial hub for S.Korean banks
South Korea’s major banks are rushing to Singapore as the city-state is emerging as a new financial hub in Southeast Asia, replacing the tradi...
Jun 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Tencent-backed Krafton's mega IPO seen as overvalued
South Korea-based game publisher Krafton Inc.'s highly-anticipated initial public offering is raising concerns that it may be overvalued. The compan...
Jun 17, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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E-commerce
Naver tipped to pull out of Shinsegae-led eBay Korea deal
In the latest twist to the pending deal worth nearly $4 billion, South Korea's online titan Naver Corp. has tentatively decided to withdraw from a S...
Jun 17, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Bain Capital to gain $90 mn from exit of Schwan's deal
Bain Capital is set to pocket about 100 billion won ($90 million) in profits in two years from its equity financing of the South Korean CJ Group's $...
Jun 17, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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E-commerce
Shinsegae-Naver consortium one step closer to eBay Korea acquisition
Shinsegae is the likely winner of the eBay Korea acquisition, outplaying its rival Lotte in the prolonged race to buy the country’s third larg...
Jun 16, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Krafton mega IPO on horizon: Industry game-changer
Krafton Inc. is set to become the first South Korean decacorn startup, or a company valued at over $10 billion, to make a trading debut on the count...
Jun 15, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Hyundai Oilbank revives IPO push, expands blue hydrogen business
South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank Co. is seeking to list its shares on the local bourse next year, according to its parent Hyundai Heavy Industri...
Jun 15, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Mirae, Naver set for hefty profit from Didi Chuxing IPO
The prospective initial public offering of DiDi Chuxing Technology Co., China's largest ride-hailing app, is expected to generate as much as 200 bil...
Jun 15, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
2 Min readlanguage
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