SM Culture Partners
Scope
Date
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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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Interviews
Wooyoungmi emerges as 'new luxury' menswear brand
When South Korean menswear brand Wooyoungmi had the highest sales in the men’s fashion hall of Paris-based luxury department store Le Bon Marc...
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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Shipping & Shipbuilding
SM Line sees light at the end of the tunnel: SM Group’s Woo
When SM Group, formerly known as Samla Midas Group, took over assets of bankrupt Hanjin Shipping Co., for 37 billion won ($32 million) at the end of...
Oct 27, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
CJ ENM in exclusive talks to acquire SM Entertainment
South Korea's entertainment powerhouse CJ ENM Co. is in exclusive talks to acquire a 19.37% stake in SM Entertainment Co., the country's first-gener...
Oct 15, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Merchant liner SM Line to list on Kosdaq in November
South Korea’s merchant liner SM Line Corp. is set to become a publicly-traded company in November. SM Line has submitted its securities regist...
Oct 07, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Food & Beverage
Food triggers next phase of global K-culture craze
The ongoing global fever over South Korean music and entertainment content is driving the rapid growth of the country’s packaged food manufact...
Oct 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean chipmakers
Samsung, ARM chip design partner Gaonchips eyes IPO in 2022
South Korea’s leading semiconductor design house Gaonchips Co. has officially kicked off preparations to go public in the first half of 2022. ...
Sep 29, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Capstone Partners: Korea's 'guardian angel' for early-stage startups
In 2018, a South Korean food startup GoPizza Co. was on the brink of shutting down. Lim Jae-won, GoPizza's founder, had launched the business with a...
Sep 28, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Monthly trade infographics
Processed rice goods emerge as dark horse in agri-food exports
Despite the global pandemic, exports of processed rice goods hit an all-time high at $137.6 million in 2020, up by 26.9% compared to the previous ...
Sep 15, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Markets
Activist fund urges SK Chemicals to sell part of SK Bioscience stake
A Singaporean activist fund has urged South Korea’s SK Chemicals to sell some of its shares in SK Bioscience Co., saying its corporate value h...
Sep 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Burger King's Korea, Japan operations up for sale
Affinity Equity Partners is putting Burger King's operations in South Korea and Japan up for sale, after the US hamburger franchise overtook its big...
Sep 06, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
Hyundai Motor, Motional unveil IONIQ 5 self-driving robotaxi
South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its US mobility joint venture Motional Inc. on Tuesday unveiled their first autonomous robot...
Aug 31, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
SM to absorb music production unit before founder's stake sale
SM Entertainment Co., a South Korean music powerhouse, will absorb a music production company wholly owned by its founder and chief producer Lee Soo...
Aug 25, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Batteries
SM Lab develops cathode with 98% nickel, industry’s highest density
SM Lab, a South Korean battery material startup, has developed a cathode with 98% nickel content, the highest density ever for rechargeable batterie...
Aug 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korea's top online flea market startup value up to $2.6 bn
South Korea’s No. 1 online flea market operator Danggeun Market Inc. has increased its valuation to $2.6 billion as it raised $153 million fro...
Aug 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Leadership & Management
Kakao Group’s past, present and future as conglomerate
Kakao Corp., which a decade ago was merely a mobile messenger operator, has now grown into one of the largest business groups in South Korea. The in...
Aug 17, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korean unicorns winning talent war against global IBs
South Korean unicorn startups are soaking up talent from global investment banks (IBs) and brokerage houses. Junior and senior financial market spec...
Aug 17, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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M&As
MBK Partners to sell Doosan Machine Tools for $2.1 bn
MBK Partners, a North Asia-focused private equity firm, agreed to sell South Korean Doosan Machine Tools at $2.1 billion to the country’s DTR ...
Aug 13, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Korea's top VC says NFTs to emerge as promising investments
Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are poised to emerge as promising investments in the era of digital transformation once the global pandemic settles down, ...
Aug 11, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
S.Korea's top laundry franchise Cleantopia sold to PEF
South Korea's largest laundry service provider Cleantopia Co. was sold on Tuesday for about 190 billion won ($165 million) to Seoul-based JKL Partne...
Aug 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Philanthropy
MBK chair says philanthropy, writing are equally important in his life
Michael ByungJu Kim, founder and chairman of Korea’s largest private equity firm MBK Partners, will donate 30 billion won ($26 million) to the...
Aug 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
CJ joins race for over $200 mn stake in SM Entertainment
South Korea's entertainment- and food-focused CJ Group has emerged as a darkhorse to buy a controlling stake worth about 300 billion won ($260 milli...
Aug 03, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Carbon neutrality
POSCO partners with Australia’s Roy Hill for carbon neutrality initiatives
South Korea’s top steelmaker POSCO and Australia’s major iron ore supplier Roy Hill have strengthened their existing partnership to cond...
Aug 02, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
SM Line files for IPO review, aims for Kosdaq listing in second-half
South Korean merchant liner SM Line Corp. has filed for a preliminary review by the Korea Exchange of its plan to go public on the junior Kosdaq mar...
Jul 13, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Real estate
POBA likely to invest €100 mn in Dutch lab developer
South Korea's Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) has decided to invest around €100 million ($120 million) in Kadans Science Partner, a...
Jul 13, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
No.1 K-pop goods maker Copan Global eyes digital expansion
The world of K-pop is globally known for offering a truly wide selection of merchandise items for fans. While balloons were the only goods used by t...
Jul 06, 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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Korean startups
PigUp targets MZ consumers with new meat culture
South Korea's island of Jeju is famous for its native citrus and pork. It's also where Shin Woo-sup, the founder of startup studio Futurera, came up...
Jun 16, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Banking & Finance
Hana Financial partners with Line to launch digital bank in Indonesia
Naver Corp.’s Japan-based messaging app affiliate Line Corp. is rapidly expanding its digital banking business in Asian countries outside Kore...
Jun 13, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)