Financial Life Guidebook for Foreigners
Scope
Date
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Venture capital
KB Financial's $186 mn VC fund invests $42 mn in Indian startups
KB Financial Group's global venture capital fund, which raised 220 billion won ($185.6 million) last year, has wrapped up its investment of about 50 b...
Sep 10, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&A
Korea state agency to sell up to 10% Woori Financial stake in block deal
The Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC) has resumed the ongoing sale process of its 17.25% stake in Woori Financial Group in four years. It will offe...
Sep 07, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Carlyle flexes muscles in Korean financial industry as Lee takes helm
The Carlyle Group has been growing its presence in South Korea after sealing a string of investment and business deals with top Korean financial servi...
Sep 07, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Rights offering
Affinity Equity, Baring PEA tipped to invest $1 bn in Shinhan Financial
Affinity Equity Partners and Baring Private Equity Asia will likely invest a combined 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) in new shares of Shinhan Financial...
Sep 04, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Corporate governance
Samsung Life shares rally as governance issue looms on likely stake sale
Shares of South Korea’s largest life insurer, Samsung Life Insurance Co., have rallied in recent sessions on expectations that the company will ...
Sep 02, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Doosan Group
Doosan Heavy shares rally as investors look beyond financial woes
Shares of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd., a South Korean power plant builder, jumped to their highest level in more than two year...
Sep 01, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Korean digital wallet operator raises $173 mn from foreign VC firms
Viva Republica Inc., the operator of South Korea's popular digital wallet Toss, has raised its largest single fundraising worth $173 million from...
Aug 28, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Airlines
KDB offers to ease HDC's financial burden in Asiana takeover as deal stalls
State-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), the main creditor of Asian Airlines Inc., has unveiled proposals to ease the financial burden for HDC Hyundai ...
Aug 26, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Hanwha Life commits $400 mn to KKR’s new Asia buyout fund
Hanwha Life Insurance Co. Ltd., South Korea’s second-biggest life insurer, has committed around $400 million to KKR & Co.’s new Asia b...
Aug 25, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Markets
Korea’s money supply sees fastest growth in decade as foreigners return to stock market
South Korea’s money supply grew at a quicker pace in June than it has in a decade, as foreign investors, who shunned risky assets just following...
Aug 13, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Foreign insurers’ Korean units likely up for sale on tougher rules, falling profits
Following in the footsteps of Prudential Financial Inc., foreign insurance companies are expected to put their Korean units up for sale to meet tighte...
Aug 11, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Real Estate
Foreigners’ Jan-May Korea apartment purchases top $1 bn on buying spree
Foreign investors have stepped up apartment purchases in South Korea in recent years, adding fuel to the already heated residential property market wh...
Aug 04, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pension fund
Silence over NPS chief investment officer's tenure raises eyebrows within the financial community
Silence over the tenure of incumbent chief investment officer (CIO) at the National Pension Service is stirring up talk within the global asset manage...
Jul 30, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Renewable energy
Hana Financial underwrites $117 million senior loan for US energy storage system
Hana Financial Investment Co., Ltd has invested in an energy storage system development project as an underwriter for senior loans worth $117 million....
Jul 29, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Insurance
US insurer Cigna to put Korean life insurance arm up for sale
The US life insurance group Cigna has recently decided to put its South Korean insurance unit on the market and hired Goldman Sachs as the sale manage...
Jul 24, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Asset management
Shinhan Financial in search to acquire traditional asset manager
Shinhan Financial Group, one of Korea's largest financial holding firms, has reached out to asset management companies that are well-versed ...
Jul 20, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Alternative investment
Hana Financial purchases $77 mn mezzanine loan on 30 Hudson Yards NYC
Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd. has purchased a $77 million mezzanine loan backed by a six-story space in the 101-story, 30 Hudson Yards, the third...
Jul 09, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banks
Carlyle to invest $415 mn in KB Financial, betting on share rebound
The Carlyle Group has tentatively agreed to buy $200 million worth of bonds exchangeable into shares in KB Financial Group and the US private equity f...
Jun 19, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Debt
Foreign investors’ holding of South Korean bonds at record high of $115 bn
Foreign investors continued to buy South Korean bonds such as treasuries and monetary stabilization bonds for a fourth consecutive month in April, wit...
May 12, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Prudential to sell Korean unit to KB Financial for $1.9 bn
Prudential Financial Inc. has decided to sell its South Korean insurance arm to KB Financial Group for about 2.3 trillion won ($1.9 billion) and will ...
Apr 10, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Alternative investment
Military Mutual Aid extends financial division CIO’s term by one year
The Military Mutual Aid Association (MMAA) has extended its financial division head’s term for another year to focus on the risk management asso...
Mar 27, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&A
Prudential Life draws Taiwan’s Fubon Fin, four Korean prelim bidders
Taiwan’s Fubon Financial Holdings, KB Financial Group and three Seoul-based private equity firms have submitted letters of intent to acquire 100...
Jan 17, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Shinhan Financial to raise $200 mn for KKR’s tailor-made funds
Shinhan Financial Group will raise $200 million for two KKR funds of funds (FoFs) tailor-made for the South Korean banking group, under a strategic pa...
Jan 10, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Hana Fin, Lotte Non-life lend $85 mn for US midstream project
Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd. and Lotte Non-life Insurance Co. Ltd. have lent $85 million in a mezzanine loan on Salt Creek Midstream LLC in Texa...
Jul 29, 2019 (Gmt+09:00)
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Affinity Equity-led group to exercise put option on $1.8 bn Kyobo Life shares
A consortium led by Affinity Equity Partners will push ahead with exercising their right to sell shares in South Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance Co. Ltd....
Dec 04, 2018 (Gmt+09:00)
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Samsung Life sells Commerzbank’s London headquarters for $590 mn
Samsung Life Insurance Co. Ltd. has completed the sale of Commerzbank AG’s London headquarters to Singapore’s property investment firm Wing Tai Holdin...
Nov 29, 2018 (Gmt+09:00)
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KB Financial units invest $103 mn in Spain hotel portfolio-backed debt
KB Asset Management Co. Ltd. and other units of South Korea’s top banking group KB Financial Group co-invested 90 million euros ($103 million) in a se...
Nov 05, 2018 (Gmt+09:00)
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Hana Financial buys US REIT’s preferred stocks for $125 mn
Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd. has bought new preferred shares issued by a US real estate investment trust company for $125 million, ahead of the ...
Aug 14, 2018 (Gmt+09:00)
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Anbang Life-backed fund buys Seoul building for $225 mn
A fund led by a South Korean unit of China’s Anbang Life Insurance Co. Ltd. has bought a prime office building in Seoul for 240 billion won ($22...
Dec 31, 2017 (Gmt+09:00)
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Samsung, Kyobo Life to buy $129 mn debt of US toll road from IFM Investors
Two of South Korea’s top three life insurers – Samsung and Kyobo – will buy $129 million debt backed by revenues of the Indiana Toll Road Concession C...
Oct 24, 2017 (Gmt+09:00)