Korean tech industry
Scope
Date
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Private equity
PEFs zoom in on Korean drama producer as strategic buyers pull back
A pre-IPO share sale by South Korean TV drama producer JTBC Studios Co. Ltd. has attracted Bain Capital Credit, TPG Capital and a few Korean private e...
Aug 27, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Short selling ban
Korean govt extends ban on short selling to appease retail investors
The South Korean government has decided to extend the ban on short selling for another six months -- from September 16 to March 15, 2021 -- promp...
Aug 27, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean Air
Korean Air seals $835 mn in-flight business sale to private equity firm
Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd. signed a definitive agreement on August 25 to sell its in-flight duty-free and meal service business to South Korea’s ...
Aug 25, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Carlyle Group to exit from Korean OEM apparel exporter in seven years
The Carlyle Group has sold off its stake in South Korea's Yakjin Trading Corp., an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for global brands such a...
Aug 21, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Short selling
South Korean govt likely to extend short-selling ban on resurging coronavirus concerns
The South Korean government is leaning toward extending the six-month ban on short selling amid a climate of economic uncertainty, said Finance Minist...
Aug 21, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Waste management
KKR wraps up $739 mn purchase of Korean waste management firms
KKR & Co. of the US has finalized the 875 billion won ($739 million) purchase of two South Korean waste treatment companies after completing its f...
Aug 21, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Central bank
Record-high Q2 Korean household debt heats up property, stock markets
South Korea’s household debt surged to the highest level in its history in the second quarter of the year, led by soaring mortgage loans and sec...
Aug 21, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Markets
Korean retail investors' offshore stock purchases hit record high in July
South Korean individuals purchased a record amount of shares in overseas markets last month as they looked beyond the local bourse for bigger returns....
Aug 20, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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k-webtoon
How Korean platform giants disrupted the digital comics market with webtoons
South Korean webtoons (mobile and digital comics) are taking over the digital comics markets in Japan and the US. Market watchers claim it is&nbs...
Aug 20, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Waste management
SK Eng beats Goldman, Keppel in $846 mn bid for Korean waste treatment firm
SK Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. has beat Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, Singapore’s Keppel Infrastructure Holdings and two ...
Aug 19, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&A
Insurance giant AXA seeks buyers for a 100% stake in Korean AXA General
AXA, a French multinational insurance group, is keen to sell a 100% stake in its South Korean operation, AXA General Insurance Co., according to indus...
Aug 19, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Airlines
Korean Air, Hahn & Company closer to finalizing $845 mn in-flight meal service deal
Korean Air Lines Co. and local private equity firm Hahn & Company may sign the share purchase agreement (SPA) for the flag carrier’s in-flig...
Aug 19, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Electric vehicle battery
Korean EV battery makers' shares tumble on Morgan Stanley downgrade
Shares of South Korea’s three leading electric-vehicle (EV) battery makers LG Chem Ltd, SK Innovation Co. and Samsung SDI Co. fell 5% on August ...
Aug 14, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Machinery
Korean shipyards retake global top spot in July with pricey LNG vessels
South Korean shipbuilders replaced their Chinese rivals to take the top spot in the global order book last month, thanks to their supremacy in buildin...
Aug 11, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Debt
Korean telecom giant KT to issue $400 mn dollar bond in August
South Korea’s telecom giant KT Corp. plans to raise $400 million by issuing a dollar-denominated bond around the end of August, according to inv...
Aug 11, 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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Waste management
Goldman, Keppel Infrastructure, SK Eng vying for top Korean waste disposal firm
South Korea’s largest waste treatment company EMC Holdings Co. Ltd. has drawn binding bids from Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area (PIA) Gr...
Aug 10, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean dramas push cultural content exports beyond $10 billion
Korean dramas are becoming a worldwide phenomenon as they rise steadily to become one of Korea's major exports - even in countries that harb...
Aug 10, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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TPG, online portal Naver eyeing Korean drama producer’s pre-IPO share sale
The US private equity firm TPG Capital and South Korea’s top Internet portal Naver Corp. have participated in preliminary bidding for a pre-IPO ...
Aug 07, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
Naver Webtoon becomes industry's first to post over $2.5 mn for daily paid-content
Naver Webtoon has become the industry's first to post over 3 billion won ($2.5 million) for daily paid-content as of August 2, breaking its own r...
Aug 07, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Airlines
Korean Air, Asiana log earnings surprises on cargo flights as global rivals record losses
Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc. have bucked the global trend of the devastating aviation industry and made rare quarterly profits, as th...
Aug 07, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&A
NH Investment beats Korean rival in a bold bet on $400 mn Aussie-NZ infra portfolio
A consortium led by NH Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. has been named as a preferred buyer for infrastructure assets worth $400 million in Austra...
Aug 06, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Insurance
US insurer Cigna’s Korean unit says no decision yet on its possible sale
LINA Life Insurance Co., wholly owned by the US life insurance group Cigna, said on August 6 that its parent group has not made a decision to sell the...
Aug 06, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Markets
Korean stocks end at highest level in 2 years as ants load up
South Korean shares rallied for a second consecutive session on Wednesday, ending at the highest level in nearly two years, as individual investors sn...
Aug 05, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPO
Korean game platform seeks $323 mn IPO in non-contact business boom
Kakao Games Corp., a unit of South Korea’s top mobile messaging app operator, is seeking to raise up to 384 billion won ($323 million) from an i...
Aug 05, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Reinsurance
Carlyle to enter Korea’s reinsurance market with Korean Re for embattled insurers
The Carlyle Group has joined hands with Korean Re, the largest reinsurer in South Korea, to become the first co-reinsurance providers in a market esti...
Aug 04, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Foreign exchange
Why Korean won lacks luster, despite dollar’s weak trend
The South Korean won has been stuck in a range between 1,190 and 1,210 to the US dollar in the past two months, down 3% since the start of the year, d...
Aug 03, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korean travel platform My Real Trip raises $36 million amid sluggish travel industry
My Real Trip, Korea’s leading online travel platform, has received 43.2 billion won ($36 million) in funding from domestic and overseas investor...
Jul 28, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Korean investors jointly set up a $770 million SPC to invest in KKR funds
Local institutional investors have injected $500 million (600 billion won) into a special purpose company to invest in diverse funds managed by privat...
Jul 28, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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REIT
Korean REIT backed by Amazon’s Japan warehouse seeks Seoul IPO
A South Korean brokerage firm with a 50.1% stake in Amazon’s largest distribution center in Japan is seeking to list a real estate investment tr...
Jul 27, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)