Kakao-Bank
Scope
Date
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Shareholder activism
JB Financial wins proxy fight against activist fund Align Partners
South Korea’s JB Financial Group Co. won a proxy battle against local activist fund Align Partners Capital Management on dividends and nominat...
Mar 31, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Fintech
LINE, Mizuho call off plan to set up mobile-only bank in Japan
LINE Corp. and Mizuho Financial Group’s plan to introduce an internet-only bank in Japan has fallen through about five years after they unveil...
Mar 30, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Kakao will launch Korean-specific vertical AI in year's first half
Kakao Corp., South Korea’s platform giant operating the country’s No. 1 chat app KakaoTalk, by the first half of the year will launch an...
Mar 29, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Bio & Pharma
Kobiolabs, Kakao Healthcare to explore microbiome-based precision medicine solutions
Kobiolabs Co., South Korea's new drug development company for microbiomes, announced on Tuesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding for...
Mar 29, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Kakao's tender offer for SM Ent. twice oversubscribed
South Korea’s Kakao Corp. has secured 40% of SM Entertainment Co. as planned, wrapping up its 1.25-trillion-won ($960 million) takeover bid fo...
Mar 27, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
HYBE accepts Kakao’s tender offer to exit SM Entertainment
HYBE Co., the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment Co., said on Friday it has accepted Kakao Corp.’s tender offer to sell its shares in the...
Mar 24, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
S.Korean fashion platform Ably attracts $39 mn before Series C round
South Korea’s Ably Corp., operator of the fashion shopping app Ably, has attracted 50 billion won ($39 million) via venture debt amid the slow...
Mar 23, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
Kakao Mobility buys UK ride-hailing startup Splyt for global biz
South Korea’s Kakao Mobility Corp. said on Wednesday it has acquired the British ride-hailing startup Splyt, marking the first overseas takeov...
Mar 22, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Earnings
KB, Hana drive major S.Korean overseas banking profits lower
KB Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank led weaker earnings of the four largest South Korean lenders’ overseas units last year although their rivals Shi...
Mar 22, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Kakao halts its own AI chatbot beta service a day after release
Kakao Corp., South Korea’s platform giant operating the country’s No. 1 chat app KakaoTalk, has introduced its first artificial intell...
Mar 20, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
S.Korean biotech GI Innovation's IPO draws tepid market interest
South Korean biotech GI Innovation Inc. is slated to debut on the local public market at less than half of its pre-IPO investment value, facing luke...
Mar 20, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Economy
S.Korea confirms easing inflation; BOK to hold rate
South Korea confirmed that inflation eased while Asia’s fourth-largest economy continued to slow, adding to expectations that the government m...
Mar 17, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Energy
Korea Eximbank teams up with US small nuclear reactor firm
The Export-Import Bank of Korea said on Thursday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NuScale Power, a US company that develo...
Mar 17, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
HYBE to buy 2 labels in the Americas after dropping SM bid
HYBE Co., the company behind global sensation BTS, plans to acquire at least two prominent labels in the Americas this year as it aims to become a m...
Mar 15, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Perspectives
US bank failure triggers Asia’s 2008 PTSD
If anyone at South Korea's National Pension Service has been planning a 2023 vacation, it might be time to cancel. The recent collapse of Silicon...
Mar 15, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean stock market
Kakao, HYBE shares rally on reconciliation but SM shares tank
Investors welcomed the end of a fierce month-long battle between HYBE Co. and Kakao Corp. over control of South Korea’s K-pop pioneer SM Enter...
Mar 13, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Timeline of HYBE's failed bid for SM vs Kakao
(All dates in 2023) -- Jan. 15: Align Partners Capital Management filed proxy litigation against SM Entertainment Co. Founder Lee Soo-man and seven...
Mar 12, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
HYBE withdraws bid for SM in $1 bn battle with Kakao
South Korea's HYBE Co., the company behind the global sensation BTS, said on Sunday it has decided to pull out of the face-off with Kakao Corp. for ...
Mar 12, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banking & Finance
BC Card signs contracts for Indonesia's digital payment project
BC Card Co., a South Korean credit card company, said on Friday it has signed two contracts to provide digital payment services for Indonesia’...
Mar 10, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Will SM shares’ bull run foil Kakao’s takeover attempt?
The bull run in shares of SM Entertainment Co. may deal a heavy blow to Kakao Corp. ’s 1.25-trillion-won ($950 million) takeover bid for the K...
Mar 08, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banking & Finance
KEXIM bank inks $6 billion financing deal with Aramco
The Export-Import Bank of Korea said on Tuesday it has signed a three-year framework agreement with Saudi Arabian Oil Co.(Aramco), to provide up to ...
Mar 08, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Kakao Brain launches web service to turn imagination into images
Kakao Brain, a South Korean artificial intelligence (AI) company owned by Kakao Corp., launched an open beta version of "B^ EDIT," a web service tha...
Mar 07, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Kakao to launch takeover bid for SM to counter HYBE
Kakao Corp., South Korea’s dominant mobile platform, will launch a takeover bid for SM Entertainment Co., according to people with knowledge o...
Mar 07, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
HYBE barely ups SM stake in tender offer amid tensions with Kakao
HYBE Co. has raised its stake in the K-pop pioneer SM Entertainment Co. by merely 0.98% in a tender offer, after just one institution and minority i...
Mar 06, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Foreign exchange
S.Korea-Indonesia central banks renew currency swap agreement
Central banks of South Korea and Indonesia renewed a bilateral local currency swap arrangement to keep supporting trade and financial cooperation fo...
Mar 06, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
HYBE to raise up to $769 mn, new twist on battle with Kakao for SM
HYBE Co. is tightening the reins in its fight against Kakao Corp. for control of SM Entertainment Co. by raising up to 1 trillion won ($768.6 millio...
Mar 05, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
HYBE wins 2nd battle against Kakao over SM Entertainment
A South Korean court on Friday ruled in favor of SM Entertainment Co. Founder and former Chief Producer Lee Soo-man to block the company from sellin...
Mar 03, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Healthcare
Kakao Healthcare to launch diabetes monitoring app
South Korea’s dominant mobile platform Kakao Corp. will kick off its healthcare services this year with the launch of a diabetes monitoring ap...
Mar 03, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banking & Finance
S.Korea's K Bank posts highest net profit in 2022
K Bank, a South Korean Internet-only bank, reported a net profit of 83.6 billion won ($63.6 million) in 2022, which nearly quadrupled compared to th...
Mar 02, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Electric vehicles
S.Korean EV charger maker lands $770 mn export deal in North America
South Korea's Moderntec, an electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions company, on Wednesday said it signed a three-year export contract with a partne...
Mar 02, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)