Korean firms emerge triumphant from pandemic with record Q1 profits
South Korean companies have posted their best-ever quarterly sales and operating profits, emerging from a year-long slump caused by the global COVID...
Kakao Japan secures over $500 mn from Anchor Equity; valuation tops $7 bn
Kakao Corp.’s Japanese unit is set to secure 600 billion won ($530 million) from South Korea-based private equity firm Anchor Equity Partners....
Korean pension funds eye non-core global real estate
South Korea's Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS), Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) and Military Mutual Aid Association (MMAA) ar...
CVC names ex-Affinity Equity top manager as Korea head
CVC Capital Partners has appointed Chris Rhee, a former partner of Affinity Equity Partners, as its Seoul office head and global partner, according ...
Anchor Equity eyes IPO of coffee chain A Twosome Place
A Twosome Place is poised to be South Korea's first listed coffee chain as its owner Anchor Equity Partners has kicked off the process of its initia...
Laundry service Wash Swat wraps up $16 mn Series B round
South Korea-based laundry service startup Wash Swat Inc. has secured 17.5 billion won ($16 million) in Series B round funding, bringing the company'...
Donations from Lee Kun-hee's collection: From national treasures to Western masterpieces
The Samsung Group heirs' announcement that they will donate some 23,000 pieces of art and cultural artifacts collected by the late Chairman Lee Kun-...
Hyundai Motor pilots EV mobility service for pets
Hyundai Motor Group will pilot an urban mobility service for pets in Seoul, using a specially designed Ray EV model by Kia Corp. The group said on A...
IMM Private Equity to acquire 40% stake in SK Lubricants for $900 million
Seoul-based IMM Private Equity will acquire a 40% stake in South Korea’s SK Lubricants Co., wholly owned by SK Innovation Co., for about one t...
Korean govt pension to commit $105 mn to 3 global infra funds
South Korea's Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) will commit $105 million to three global infrastructure funds this year, targeting a net i...
NPS bows to pressure to up domestic equity ceiling
The National Pension Service has bowed to pressure from retail investors to raise the upper limit for domestic stock purchases, after it was blamed ...
Kakao Japan seeks $446 million from Anchor Equity
Kakao Corp.’s Japanese unit, which operates Japan’s largest webtoon platform Piccoma, is in talks to attract as much as 500 billion won ...
GS Galtex to partner with Kakao for mobility services
South Korea's GS Caltex Corp., aiming to become a logistics platform, will invest around 30 billion won ($26 million) in Kakao Mobility Corp. to str...
Kakao’s private affiliates post record growth in 2020
South Korean tech giant Kakao’s unlisted subsidiaries have posted record-high growth figures for the previous financial year. According to Kak...
KIC, Korean pension funds in hunt for new C-level execs
South Korea's Police Mutual Aid Association (PMAA) has been looking for a new chief investment officer for a half year, while the sovereign wealth f...
Kakao forays into pet taxi service; buys Pet Me Up
South Korea-based Kakao Mobility Corp., a subsidiary of mobile giant Kakao Corp., has acquired the country's leading pet taxi service, Pet Me Up, in...
Affinity Equity set to acquire Korea’s top recruitment portal JobKorea
Affinity Equity Partners, a global private equity firm, is set to acquire the entire stake of South Korea’s top recruitment portal JobKorea &n...
KIC names new private equity, absolute return heads
The Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has named new heads of its private equity and absolute return groups this week, following the replacement of ...
CVC, TPG, MBK, Affinity Equity in final bidding for JobKorea
Local and foreign private equity firms are among the final bidders for the entire stake of South Korea’s top recruitment portal JobKorea &ndas...
Korean pension funds on over 1-month Kospi selling streak
The National Pension Service and other South Korean pension funds have offloaded a net 9.9 trillion won ($8.9 billion) worth of shares on the countr...
Two thirds of Koreans use OTT services; YouTube favored
Two out of every three Koreans used over-the-top (OTT) media last year, with YouTube the favored platform from which to watch videos and other strea...
Serial entrepreneur builds gateway for cloud services
“You see all of these buildings? All of the companies in these buildings will become our clients."These were the words of Lee Han-joo, chief e...
SK Innovation buys 13% stake in China’s EV battery-swap station operator
SK Innovation Co. has signed a deal to acquire a 13% stake in a Chinese electric vehicle battery-swap station operator, as the South Korean company ...
NPS divides global securities division into equity, fixed income
The National Pension Service has divided up its global public market division into Global Equity and Global Fixed Income divisions as part of a plan...
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...
Hahn & Co finances $700 mn Korean Air deal with about $400 mn debt
Hahn & Co., a South Korean private equity firm, has completed the payment for the 790 billion won ($722 million) purchase of Korean Air Lines' i...
Hyundai Motor JV to launch robotaxi services in US by 2023
Hyundai Motor Group's autonomous driving joint venture Motional and US-based ride-hailing company Lyft have joined forces to offer robotaxi servic...
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...
CVC, TPG and Affinity Equity in bidding for JobKorea
CVC Capital Partners, TPG Capital and Affinity Equity Partners are among 10 preliminary bidders for the entire stake of South Korea’s largest ...
Korea’s personal pensions gamble with risky stocks for higher returns
South Korea’s individual pension fund holders are moving their money out of banks and insurance companies into brokerages in pursuit of higher...
