Seoul Financial Hub
Scope
Date
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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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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)
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Korean startups
Delivery service provider Barogo wraps up $72 mn Series C round
Logistics IT platform service Barogo has successfully wrapped up an 80 billion won ($72 million) Series C round, far above the company's initial tar...
Jun 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Lotte Rental kicks off $360 mn IPO process, seeks $1.8 bn valuation
South Korea’s leading rental car company Lotte Rental Co. has kicked off an initial public offering process to raise some 400 billion won ($36...
May 31, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Fintech
KakaoBank’s skyrocketing valuation fuels debate on financial reform
There have been near-endless debates regarding the “proper valuation” of KakaoBank, South Korea’s largest internet-only bank that ...
May 25, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Hotel sale
Hilton Seoul likely to be transformed into office
Millennium Hilton Seoul, the venue of South Korea's 1997 negotiations to secure a $58 billion rescue package from the International Monetary Fund, w...
May 24, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Real estate
Downtown Seoul office building prices rise to record high
Office building prices in downtown Seoul set a fresh record high this month, with the highest price of one pyeong, or 3.3 square meters, surpassing ...
May 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Asset management
Woori Financial takes over Franklin Templeton’s retail fund business
Woori Financial Group has been selected to acquire Franklin Templeton Investments’ retail fund business in South Korea, less than a month sinc...
May 14, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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ESG
BOK tells institutions to cut exposure in high carbon sectors
The Bank of Korea has asked the country’s financial institutions to reduce exposure in economic sectors that generate high levels of carbon em...
Mar 25, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Energy
Hyosung TNC’s Love Seoul made of recycled PET bottles
Hyosung TNC Corp., a South Korean textile and yarn maker, has unveiled garments made of eco-friendly polyester yarn extracted from recycled PET bott...
Mar 10, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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SK Group's financial story: Measure, divest and focus
Last month, South Korea's third-largest conglomerate SK Group agreed to sell its 21-year-old baseball club SK Wyverns to the country’s leading...
Mar 09, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pension funds
Korea’s military fund looking for new financial division chief
South Korea’s Military Mutual Aid Association (MMAA) is looking for the successor of its financial division chief Kim Jae-dong, whose extended...
Mar 04, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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PEFs
Blackstone to open Seoul office for improved communication
The Blackstone Group is working to set up a Seoul office, seven years after the US investment firm closed it down, in response to growing calls from...
Feb 26, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean food
Daesang marks Indonesia as hub for Middle East expansion
South Korea-based Daesang Corp. plans to beef up investment in Indonesia as part of its strategy to foster future growth drivers and to tap into the...
Feb 18, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Australia’s SEEK looking for financial partner to bid for JobKorea
SEEK, Australia’s largest job site, has been in discussions with private equity firms to put in a binding bid in a consortium for South Korea&...
Feb 05, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Real estate
Seoul office building transactions at record high in 2020
Brisk investment demand drove office building prices higher in Seoul and its southern neighboring area last year, with their combined transactio...
Jan 26, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
Seoul to lower bar for M&As; easing rules over PEF deals
South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is lowering the bar for mergers and acquisitions by including potential rivals, which have yet to en...
Jan 24, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Alternative investments
Keppel looking to exit two Seoul office towers for over $200 mn
Singapore-based Keppel Investment Management is preparing to sell two office buildings in Seoul, less than two years after it acquired them for arou...
Jan 15, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Trade insurance
Seoul to offer $3 bn credit insurance on Saudi's megaprojects
Korea Trade Insurance Corp. (K-Sure) has agreed to provide $3 billion in trade credit insurance to Saudi Arabia to help South Korean companies win o...
Jan 08, 2021 (Gmt+09:00)
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Biopharma CMO
Moderna deal shows Korea’s prowess as global hub for biopharma CMO
South Korea is emerging as a global hub for the contract manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals following its latest deal to procure COVID-19 vaccines ...
Dec 30, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Real Estate
Hana Financial acquires $740 mn Seattle office tower
Hana Financial Investment has acquired a 95% stake in a 38-story downtown Seattle office tower for $740 million from Skanska AB, a Swiss-based m...
Dec 29, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Seoul stock markets brimming with startup IPOs in Jan
Singapore-based biosimilar maker Prestige BioPharma and nine startups are set to make initial public offerings in Seoul to raise at least 640 billio...
Dec 23, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
Autonomous driving startup 42dot plans Level 4 self-driving in Seoul
42dot, a South Korea-based autonomous driving startup, plans to launch a Level 4 self-driving service in some areas of Seoul next year.The company s...
Dec 21, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Lotte World Tower
Sunset paints crimson sky over Seoul
Bravehearted visitors enjoy a scenic sunset view from Lotte World Tower's Sky Bridge, an 11-meter bridge connecting the two steel peaks of t...
Dec 18, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Markets
Seoul shares tipped to benefit from global indices' China exclusions
Global index providers' recent decisions to remove Chinese companies from their benchmarks are expected to draw additional global and institutional ...
Dec 13, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Airlines
Seoul court clears way for Korean Air’s $1.6 bn Asiana deal
Korean Air Lines Co. will push ahead with its planned $1.6 billion acquisition of debt-laden Asiana Airlines Inc., the company said, after a Seoul d...
Dec 01, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Energy
Saudi crown prince to be top shareholder of Seoul-listed gaming firm
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman has agreed to buy 240 billion won ($217 million) worth of shares in the South Korea-listed game...
Nov 27, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Markets
Seoul shares break through 2,600 to hit record close
Economically sensitive stocks such as chips, steel and shipbuilding pushed the South Korean stock market to its strongest close on Nov. 23, with gro...
Nov 23, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Future mobility
Bluespace.ai to develop autonomous mass transit system in Seoul
Bluespace.ai, a San Jose-based autonomous driving startup, is looking to develop a software system for autonomous mass transit fleets in Seoul and its...
Nov 09, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)
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Sovereign wealth funds
KIC CEO Choi Heenam named S.Korea’s financial ambassador
South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appointed Choi Heenam, chief executive of the Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), as the country's...
Nov 04, 2020 (Gmt+09:00)