Carlyle seals $200 mn investment in Kakao Mobility

The Carlyle Group has agreed to buy $200 million worth of new shares in Kakao Mobility Corp. as a pre-IPO investment in the transportation arm of So...

NPS makes first investment in timberland via UK fund

The National Pension Service has committed $150 million to London-based Stafford Capital Partners in its first investment in timberland, land availa...

Korean PE firm to reap hefty returns from US bio investment

Medivate Partners, South Korea’s life science-focused private equity firm, is set to secure more than 2.5 times its investment of around 60 bi...

Shinsegae VC firm invests in ride-sharing giant Grab

South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group's corporate venture capital (CVC) fund Signite Partners has invested in Grab Holdings Inc., a Southeast As...

LG Display to invest $750 million in Vietnam OLED module plant

LG Display Co., a major South Korean display panel maker, will invest $750 million in its display plant in Vietnam to meet rising demand from electr...

IMM PE to shortlist buyers for Taihan Electric Wire

South Korea-based IMM Private Equity is set to announce shortlisted candidates for the sale of Taihan Electric Wire Co. next week. The deal has dr...

Naver plans over $1 bn bond issue in H1 to finance platform investment

Naver Corp., South Korea’s top online portal, plans a bond issue worth as much as 1.26 trillion won ($1.13 billion) in local and ove...

Google to invest $270 mn in Kakao Mobility with Carlyle

Google Inc. is planning to invest around $270 million in Kakao Mobility Corp., the transportation arm of South Korea's No. 1 messaging operator Kaka...

SK, China’s Geely eye investment fund for hydrogen, eco-friendly business

South Korea’s SK Holdings Co. and China’s Geely Auto Group are looking to set up a joint fund designed to invest in hydrogen and other e...

NPS to invest in Silver Lake’s $20 bn tech fund

The National Pension Service has decided to invest in a $20 billion technology fund that Silicon Valley-based Silver Lake Partners recently closed, ...

Naver-invested startups line up for IPOs; market seems welcome

South Korean startups invested in by top online portal Naver Corp. are gearing up for debuts on the local bourse amid expectations of a welcome mark...

S.Korean game behemoth invests $16 mn in Elon Musk's SpaceX

The founder of South Korea's leading game company Nexon Co. has invested $16 million in SpaceX, the aerospace company headed by Elon Musk, chief e...

IMM PE, Affirma Capital shortlisted for T Map Mobility's $275 mn fundraising

Competition is heating up among domestic and foreign private equity firms hoping to invest in T Map Mobility Co., a mobility spin-off of South Korea...

KIC replaces alternative investment strategy, PE heads

Korea Investment Corporation has appointed new heads of alternative investment strategy and private equity in a senior management reshuffle carried ...

Hanwha Solutions acquires US hydrogen tank maker Cimarron, to invest $100 mn

Hanwha Solutions Corp. has acquired a 100% stake in Cimarron Composites LLC, a US hydrogen storage tank manufacturer, as the South Korean energy sol...

NPS mandates Russell to invest $1 bn in listed real estate

The National Pension Service has mandated Russell Investments to invest $1 billion in listed real estate companies or real estate investment trusts ...

Hanwha Systems to invest $30 mn in US communications firm Kymeta

Hanwha Systems Co., the defense industry arm of Hanwha Group, has decided to invest 33.2 billion won ($30 million) in Kymeta Corp., a US satellite c...

IMM PE closes its largest flagship fund at $1.8 bn

South Korea-based IMM Private Equity has raised 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) for its largest flagship fund, RoseGold IV, at its final close, accord...

NPS set to post 7% return on investment for 2020 amid pandemic

South Korea’s state pension fund is expected to post a 7% return on investment this year on the back of rebounding stock markets amid the COVI...

Ontario Teachers invests in Korean fried chicken brand valued at $1.7 bn

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) has agreed to invest 300 billion won ($275 million) in South Korea’s leading fried chicken brand B...

KB Investment, RM Global to form $100 mn bio VC fund

KB Investment Co. will join forces with US-based RM Global Partners to launch a $100 million life science fund to invest in early stage startups in ...

SK injects $200 mn into Roivant partnership for new drug development

SK Holdings Co., the holding company of South Korean conglomerate SK Group, has become the first Korean company to foray into the targeted protein d...

Venture capital investments hit all-time high in S.Korea

Venture capital investments in South Korea are seeing a speedy recovery after facing a setback earlier this year due to the COVID-19 crisis. Over th...

MBK buys $228 mn stake in China’s No. 1 car rental firm

MBK Partners has now become the second-largest shareholder in both of China’s two biggest rental car companies after purchasing a 20.86% stake...

IMM Private Equity to set up operation-focused unit

This is the first in our bi-weekly Deal briefs series, covering the latest M&A deals and key events in South Korea’s capital markets. We w...

Vestas Investment launches $272 mn Europe logistics fund

South Korea’s boutique asset manager Vestas Investment Management Co. has pooled 300 billion won ($272 million) from four pension and retireme...

Techstars to invest in 30 Korean startups by 2022

Global startup accelerator Techstars plans to invest in 30 startups in South Korea, which has a more mature and open-minded venture capital market c...

Korea to tighten grip on brokerages’ alternative investments

South Korean brokerage firms' alternative investments worth over $50 billion will come under tight control, after reckless investment in overseas real...

Korean LPs favor direct lending for private debt investment

More than half of South Korea’s key asset owners, led by the National Pension Service, are inclined to expand overseas private debt investment i...

Anchor Equity, TPG invest $500 mn in Korean mobile banking app

Hong Kong-based Anchor Equity Partners has agreed to invest 250 billion won ($226 million) to buy new shares in South Korea’s KakaoBank, shortly...