M&A

Mergers & Acquisitions

Korea’s top cinema chains seek merger to counter box office slump

South Korea’s two leading multiplex operators Lotte Culture Works Co. and Contentree JoongAng Corp. have tentatively agreed to merge in a bid t...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Soon for sale: Altos Ventures-backed Cafe Knotted operator

Silicon Valley-based Altos Ventures-backed Good Food For Good (GFFG), operator of South Korea’s popular dessert cafe, Cafe Knotted, will likely...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Harman acquires Masimo’s audio arm in Samsung’s car audio push

Harman International Industries Inc., wholly owned by Samsung Electronics Co., has acquired Masimo Corp.’s audio business for $350 million, a d...

Airlines

Korea’s Sono to sell Air Premia stake to focus on another LCC

South Korea's top resort operator Sono Hospitality Group has decided to sell its entire stake in low-cost carrier (LCC) Air Premia Inc. at a profit o...

Woori Financial wins approval for Tongyang, ABL Life acquisition

Woori Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s fourth-largest financial services provider, has received conditional approval from the country’...

Mergers & Acquisitions

CJ CheilJedang scraps $3.5 bn green bio sale, shifts gears to expansion

CJ CheilJedang Corp., South Korea’s largest food and beverage company, said on Wednesday it has scrapped a planned sale of its green bio busine...

Mergers & Acquisitions

CJ CheilJedang scraps sale of Brazilian unit CJ Selecta to Bunge

CJ CheilJedang Corp., South Korea’s largest food company, has cancelled the sale of a 66% stake in Brazilian soybean crusher CJ Selecta S.A. af...

Mergers & Acquisitions

LG Chem to sell water filter business to Glenwood PE for $692 million

South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd. has agreed to sell its water filter business – the world’s second-largest producer of reverse osmosis me...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Kyobo Life poised to buy Japan’s SBI Group-owned savings bank

Kyobo Life Insurance Co. is in the final stages of negotiation with Japanese financial group SBI Holdings Inc. to buy about a 50% stake in SBI Saving...

E-commerce

StockX in merger talks with Naver’s online reseller Kream

StockX, the world’s most popular online resale marketplace, is in talks to merge with Kream, a resale unicorn under South Korea’s tech gi...

Mergers & Acquisitions

DB Insurance becomes Daol Investment’s No.2 shareholder

DB Insurance Co., a leading South Korean non-life insurance company, has become Daol Investment & Securities Co.'s second-largest shareholder aft...

Mergers & Acquisitions

LG Chem’s medical skincare business sale draws tepid bid

South Korean chemical giant LG Chem Ltd.'s offer for sale of its cosmetics filler business, tagged with an asking price of more than 500 billion won ...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Doosan enters race to acquire SK Siltron in strategic semiconductor push

South Korea’s Doosan Group has entered the bidding war for SK Siltron Co., the world’s third-largest manufacturer of semiconductor wafers...

Mergers & Acquisitions

SK Group in talks with Hahn & Co. to sell SK Siltron

SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group, is in talks with Hahn & Co., a South Korean buyout firm, to sell SK Siltron Co., the country’s so...

Mergers & Acquisitions

IMM consortium owns 100% of Hyundai LNG Shipping; Stake sale eyed

A consortium of IMM Private Equity Inc. and IMM Investment Corp. has secured full ownership of Hyundai LNG Shipping, South Korea’s top liquefie...

Mergers & Acquisitions

KFC’s Korean operations up for sale

Orchestra Private Equity has begun the process of divesting the South Korean operations of fast-food chain KFC, which has seen earnings growth since ...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Aekyung Industrial up for sale as group struggles to ease liquidity crunch

South Korea’s Aekyung Group has put its flagship subsidiary, Aekyung Industrial Co., up for sale as part of broader restructuring efforts to sh...

Korean games

Krafton buys India’s Nautilus Mobile, fueling IP race in Korean game scene

Krafton Inc., one of South Korea’s top four market-cap gaming firms, has taken over Indian game developer Nautilus Mobile for $14 million, uppi...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Daol PE buys Youngil Glass to ride Korean cosmetics boom

Daol Private Equity has acquired Youngil Glass Industry Co., a South Korean manufacturer of glass containers, in a 65 billion won ($44.5 million) dea...

Mergers & Acquisitions

JPMorgan, Jefferies picked to manage TaylorMade Golf sale

Centroid Investment Partners, a Seoul-based private equity firm, has selected JPMorgan and Jefferies as lead managers for the sale of TaylorMade Golf...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Winia cancels acquisition deal with Seoul Private Equity

Winia Co., a South Korean home appliance manufacturer under court-led restructuring, has terminated its conditional acquisition agreement with Seoul ...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Meritz drops bid for troubled MG Non-Life Insurance; Liquidation looms

Meritz Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s second-most valuable financial holding firm, has dropped its bid to acquire financial distressed MG ...

Korean chipmakers

Magnachip to sell display business in H1 to focus on power semiconductors

South Korean chipmaker Magnachip Semiconductor Corp. plans to sell its display business by the end of the first half as part of a strategic shift tow...

Private equity

Affinity, GIC sell out of Kyobo Life; Chairman Shin seeks holding firm, M&A

Affinity Equity Partners and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC have sold their entire stake in Kyobo Life Insurance Co., exiting from their...

Mergers & Acquisitions

MBK Partners poised to acquire CJ Cheiljedang’s $3.5 billion bio business

North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners is on the verge of clinching a major acquisition deal by offering a higher bid than other contend...

Mergers & Acquisitions

S.Korean grocery delivery platform Oasis at forefront to acquire TMON

South Korea’s grocery delivery platform Oasis Corp., which has been looking to expand its e-commerce market at home and abroad, is seeking to b...

E-commerce

Korea’s beauty wholesaler to invest $10 mn in fashion platform Balaan

South Korea’s cosmetics wholesaler Silicon2 Co. is set to invest $10 million in financially troubled luxury fashion e-commerce platform operato...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Gaming company NXC looks to unload stroller maker Stokke

NXC Corp., the holding company of South Korea’s Nexon Games Co., is looking to unload Stokke AS, a premium baby stroller brand, for around 700 ...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Affinity Equity set to close $1.1 bn purchase of Lotte Rental

Affinity Equity Partners said on Friday that it will sign a definitive agreement on March 11 with Lotte Group to acquire a 56.2% stake in South Korea...

Real estate

Korea’s top property asset manager IGIS Asset’s controlling stake up for sale

South Korea’s top real estate asset management firm IGIS Asset Management Co. plans to sell a controlling stake owned by the heirs of the compa...