Korea’s M&A market heats up with record deals in first half

Korea’s M&A market heats up with record deals in first half

South Korea’s merger and acquisition market is heating up as both big conglomerates and promising startups seek to buy out businesses with gro...

The butterfly effect: How the W Concept takeover stirred up Korea's fashion industry

The butterfly effect: How the W Concept takeover stirred up Korea's fashion industry

“Just give us three weeks. We’ll offer a price by then.”This conversation took place in early March. A senior executive from retai...

Hyundai Mobis unveils new grille technology for EVs

Hyundai Mobis unveils new grille technology for EVs

South Korea’s largest auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis announced on June 17 that it has developed a new grille technology that allows drivers to...

Samsung, LG take major steps forward in 6G commercialization

Samsung, LG take major steps forward in 6G commercialization

“It’s never too early to start preparing for 6G,” said Samsung Electronics Co. last July in releasing The Next Hyper-Connected Exp...

Naver tipped to pull out of Shinsegae-led eBay Korea deal

Naver tipped to pull out of Shinsegae-led eBay Korea deal

In the latest twist to the pending deal worth nearly $4 billion, South Korea's online titan Naver Corp. has tentatively decided to withdraw from a S...

Bain Capital to gain $90 mn from exit of Schwan's deal

Bain Capital to gain $90 mn from exit of Schwan's deal

Bain Capital is set to pocket about 100 billion won ($90 million) in profits in two years from its equity financing of the South Korean CJ Group's $...

Secondary PE deals headed for record year: Pomona Capital

Secondary PE deals headed for record year: Pomona Capital

Secondary private equity deals have been the fastest-growing segment of the private equity market for several years and this year, they could exceed...

CureVac may pick Korea as Asian base for COVID vaccine production

CureVac may pick Korea as Asian base for COVID vaccine production

German biopharmaceutical company CureVac N.V. may choose South Korea as one of its global production bases for the COVID-19 vaccine following Korean...

Mastern, Kiwoom close $200 mn France logistics deal

Mastern, Kiwoom close $200 mn France logistics deal

South Korea's Mastern Investment Management Co. and Kiwoom Securities Co. have completed the acquisition of six last-mile distribution centers in Fr...

Shinsegae inches closer to eBay Korea purchase; deal remains elusive

Shinsegae inches closer to eBay Korea purchase; deal remains elusive

Shinsegae Group has inched closer to a deal to acquire eBay Korea that would see the South Korean retail giant emerge as an e-ecommerce behemoth wit...

Nature Holdings beats Shinsegae, CJ to join TaylorMade deal

Nature Holdings beats Shinsegae, CJ to join TaylorMade deal

The Nature Holdings, a South Korean importer of popular apparel brands such as National Geographic, Jeep, NFL and Vera Wang, has been chosen as the ...

Daewoo Shipbuilding to build $1 bn offshore facility for Brazil’s Petrobras

Daewoo Shipbuilding to build $1 bn offshore facility for Brazil’s Petrobras

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. has won a 1.1 trillion won ($1 billion) deal to build an offshore facility for Petroleo Brasileiro ...

Govt pension fund to ease due diligence to revive global deals

Govt pension fund to ease due diligence to revive global deals

South Korea's Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) has abandoned its onsite only due diligence requirements on alternative deals in an effort...

Hanon sale takes shape; Valeo, Mahle, LG among potential bidders

Hanon sale takes shape; Valeo, Mahle, LG among potential bidders

The much-touted sale of South Korea’s Hanon Systems Corp. is taking solid shape with names of potential bidders floating around in the market ...

UK lifestyle brand Barbour enters legal battle with 10-year partner in Korea

UK lifestyle brand Barbour enters legal battle with 10-year partner in Korea

The recent decision by Barbour, the British lifestyle brand under J. Barbour & Sons Ltd., to transfer the rights to sell its products in South K...

AI edtech startup Buzzvil readies for 2022 listing; hires IPO manager

AI edtech startup Buzzvil readies for 2022 listing; hires IPO manager

South Korea-based artificial intelligence startup Buzzvil is preparing to make a trading debut on the country’s junior bourse Kosdaq in the th...

Korean insurers finance Carlyle's $2 bn deal with ESG debt

Korean insurers finance Carlyle's $2 bn deal with ESG debt

South Korean life insurers have made an environmental, social and governance (ESG)-themed investment in The Carlyle Group's €2 billion ($2.4 bi...

LG Energy, POSCO invest $15 mn in Aussie battery material supplier

LG Energy, POSCO invest $15 mn in Aussie battery material supplier

South Korea’s LG Energy Solution Ltd. and POSCO have agreed to invest a combined 17 billion won ($15 million) in Australia's Queensland Pacifi...

Goldman Sachs zeros in on midmarket, ESG infrastructure deals

Goldman Sachs zeros in on midmarket, ESG infrastructure deals

Goldman Sachs Asset Management focuses on middle-market, value-add strategy for infrastructure deals, targeting the sectors undergoing a digital tra...

Samsung Bio plans to manufacture mRNA drug substance from 2022

Samsung Bio plans to manufacture mRNA drug substance from 2022

Samsung Biologics will be entering the drug substance segment of the COVID-19 vaccine contract manufacturing business. According to industry sources...

Hana buys Osaka logistics center for about $140 mn

Hana buys Osaka logistics center for about $140 mn

South Korea's Hana Alternative Asset Management Co. has beat 16 Japanese bidders to acquire a logistics center in the port of Osaka, Japan for ¥...

Kakao joins OTT race with INISOFT acquisition

Kakao joins OTT race with INISOFT acquisition

Kakao Corp. is entering the over-the-top (OTT) streaming market. According to investment banking sources on May 27, Kakao’s entertainment and ...

Hana, ECP signs $300 mn infra investment partnership

Hana, ECP signs  $300 mn infra investment partnership

South Korea's Hana Financial Investment Co. has signed a $300 million strategic partnership with US energy infrastructure-specialized firm ECP to in...

SK Innovation in CO2 capture, storage technology project

SK Innovation in CO2 capture, storage technology project

SK Innovation Co. signed an agreement on May 26 to participate in South Korea's first government-led project to develop carbon capture and storage (...

China’s heavy imports of copper, steel scrap hurt Korean SMEs

China’s heavy imports of copper, steel scrap hurt Korean SMEs

South Korea’s massive exports of scrap steel and scrap copper to China are hurting its domestic companies that are struggling to secure the st...

Hanwha Aerospace in $320 mn deal to supply aircraft engine parts to GE

Hanwha Aerospace in $320 mn deal to supply aircraft engine parts to GE

Hanwha Aerospace Co., a unit of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, has won a $320 million deal to supply aircraft engine parts to General Elect...

Hilton Seoul likely to be transformed into office

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...

Concurrent deal closings by Kakao, Naver: Mere coincidence?

Concurrent deal closings by Kakao, Naver: Mere coincidence?

Early this month, when Anchor Equity Partners was in intense negotiations with Kakao Corp. over the terms of its 600 billion won ($530 million) inve...

Halla to join bid for Hanon Systems stake; seen biggest deal in Korea

Halla to join bid for Hanon Systems stake; seen biggest deal in Korea

South Korea’s Halla Group is joining the race for the purchase of auto parts supplier Hanon Systems Corp. -- a deal, if reached at the top end...

Lotte Chem in hydrogen deal with Air Liquide, invests $185 mn in materials

Lotte Chem in hydrogen deal with Air Liquide, invests $185 mn in materials

South Korea’s Lotte Chemical Corp. is diversifying into electric vehicle raw materials and hydrogen businesses as new growth drivers, moving a...

Samsung on hiring spree to bolster US foundry sales LS Electric poised to join Nvidia's supply chain via Vertiv deal Is chip winter over? Doomsayers gone as Korea’s DRAM exports surge S.Korea to have 1st civilian defense minister in decades, tap career technocrats Fubon Bank expands Korea presence into banking