Pension funds eye bargains in equities and bonds; alternatives on hold

A number of South Korean pension funds are looking to hunt for bargains in the battered equity and bond markets, while postponing investment in infras...

Equity-linked securities weigh on top Korean brokerage firms

About 48 trillion won ($39 billion) of outstanding equity-linked securities (ELS) issued by South Korean brokerage companies has put their sector lead...

Korean funds hold off new midstream project investments

Pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers in South Korea have indefinitely halted new investments in North America’s midstream asset...

Anchor Equity Partners invests $170 mn in Korean entertainment firm

Anchor Equity Partners has invested 209.8 billion won ($170 million) in South Korea’s content and entertainment company Kakao M Corp., just afte...

Hyundai, Santander to acquire German car rental firm for $170 mn

Spain’s Banco Santander and Hyundai Capital Services Inc. have decided to buy a controlling stake in Sixt Leasing SE, a unit of German car renta...

Korean biotech fund reaps triple-digit return on two Nasdaq-listed firms

South Korea’s $25 million biotechnology-themed fund, launched by Meritz Securities Co. Ltd., has earned triple-digit returns on its 2.7 billion ...

Macquarie seeks co-investors for over $2 bn Korean gas firm purchase

Macquarie’s investment unit may attract Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and other limited partners of its Asia infrastructure fund a...

Macquarie buys $800 mn stake in LG Group’s IT firm

Macquarie’s South Korean unit signed a definitive agreement on Dec. 6 to buy a non-controlling stake in LG CNS Co. Ltd., an IT services arm of L...

Korean firms in all-out effort to sell down Paris office buildings

South Korean brokerage firms are stepping up efforts to sell down their remaining equity investments of around 600 billion won ($518 million) in the P...

Korean brokerage firms lend $208 mn on Australia coal terminal

Three South Korean brokerage firms, including Samsung Securities Co. Ltd., underwrote around 250 billion won ($208 million) of a subordinated debt on ...

KTCU, SK Holdings to launch $1 bn fund for global co-investment

The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU) will set up a $1 billion joint fund with South Korea’s SK Holdings Co. Ltd. to make cross-border investme...

Korean firms invest $96 mn in AT&T headquarters in Dallas

South Korean financial institutions, including Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd. and KDB Life Insurance Co. Ltd., have invested $96.4 million in ...

German VC firm collects $6 mn directly from Korean individuals

A number of wealthy South Koreans have committed 5.5 million euros ($6.1 million) to Germany’s Earlybird Venture Capital, in the first direct investme...

Korean VC firms invest $26 mn in India, Vietnam start-ups

South Korean venture capital firms have invested a combined $26 million in Internet-based start-up companies in India and Vietnam, betting on the rapi...

Korean brokerage firms acquire Hilton Vienna for $375 mn

Meritz Securities Co. Ltd. has led a South Korean brokerage consortium to buy the largest hotel in Austria, Hilton Vienna, for $375 million which is e...

Sale of Korean game firm cancelled in lack of strategic buyers

The planned sale of the parent company of South Korea’s biggest online gaming firm Nexon Co. Ltd., was abruptly cancelled after it failed to narrow th...

Korean firms underwrite $298 mn debt on new US gas plant

Three South Korean financial services firms - NH Investment & Securities Co. Ltd., its affiliate NH Bank and Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd. - ...

Cosmetics firm tops list of Korea’s profitable PE deals

The 300-billion-won ($263 million) equity investment in a South Korean cosmetics firm by a consortium of Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs in 2016 was th...

Dalmore, Equitix to resell $274 mn stake in UK rolling stock firm

A consortium of Dalmore Capital and Equitix Investment Management will sell down a stake in Cross London Trains (XLT) to three South Korean brokerage ...

Dalmore, Equitix resell $394 mn stake in UK infra fund to Korean firms

About 10 South Korean insurers, including Hanwha Life Insurance Co. Ltd., have invested 300 million pounds ($394 million) in one of the UK’s largest i...

Morgan Stanley tops 2018 Korea’s M&A advisory firm list

Morgan Stanley led South Korea’s merger advisory services market in 2018, accounting for 8.6 trillion won ($7.7 billion) worth of takeover deals, ...

Korean firms snap up Poland office building for $162 mn

Two small South Korean financial services companies have acquired a landmark office building in central Warsaw for 183 billion won ($162 million) in t...

Korean firms in talks to buy Credit Suisse’s Canary Wharf office

A consortium of South Korean financial institutions has been in exclusive talks to buy the Canary Wharf headquarters of Credit Suisse Group in a deal ...

NPS co-invests in Morgan Stanley fund’s US energy firm purchase

The National Pension Service (NPS) has poured around $100 million into a co-investment led by a Morgan Stanley fund to acquire units of a US shale gas...

Hyundai co-invests in $275 mn property near Paris with French firm

Hyundai Investments Co. Ltd. has completed the €235 million ($275 million) acquisition of a seven-story office building in the Paris metropolitan area...

Korean asset firm backs Hyundai reform plan; NPS remains indecisive

An independent South Korean investment firm has become the first institutional shareholder in Hyundai Mobis Co. Ltd. publicly supporting the Hyundai M...

Hyundai Motor hires Goldman, top law firm to fend off Elliott’s reform call

Hyundai Motor Group has bolstered the roster of its advisors with the addition of Goldman Sachs and US law firm Latham & Watkins LLP to step up fi...

Korean fund, brokerage firm buy UK solar power plant portfolio for $36 mn

The Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association (CWMA) and Korea Investment & Securities Co. Ltd. have invested around 38 billion won ($36 million...

Korean building materials firm seals 4th US hotel purchase for $87 mn

South Korea’s construction materials company, Aju Group, closed a $87 million acquisition of a hotel near Seattle from Marriott International Inc. las...

Brokerage firm Shinhan sources and lends $175 mn loan on Chicago building

Shinhan Investment Corp. has extended a $175 million loan on a prime office tower in Chicago, a rare case in which a South Korean brokerage house sour...