M&A

Mergers & Acquisitions

KT&G seeks $200 mn acquisition of Nordic nicotine pouch maker

KT&G Corp. is in talks to acquire a leading nicotine pouch company in Northern Europe for about 300 billion won, or $200 million, investment ban...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Hanjin KAL, LS expand defense business alliance to counter Hoban Group

South Korea’s Hanjin Group and LS Group are tightening their alliance further against Hoban Group, which is raising its stake in Hanjin.Korean ...

Mergers & Acquisitions

DB Group eyes Hanyang Securities amid KCGI deal uncertainty

DB Group, which owns DB Securities Co. and DB Insurance Co., is considering acquiring Hanyang Securities Co., as a deal by South Korean private equit...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Kakao Pay in talks to acquire SSG.COM’s SSG Pay and Gmarket’s Smile Pay

Kakao Pay Corp., the mobile payment and digital wallet service unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp., is in advanced negotiations to acquire tw...

Private equity

Bain Capital sells 6% stake in Korea’s Classys via block deal for $163 million

Bain Capital LP has offloaded a 6% stake in South Korean medical aesthetics company Classys Inc. through a block trade, raising 228 billion won ($163...

Mergers & Acquisitions

LS moves closer to role as Hanjin KAL’s white knight vs Hoban

Hanjin KAL Corp., the largest shareholder of Korean Air Lines Co., is strengthening its alliance with LS Group, the parent of LS Cable & System I...

Food & Beverage

Hanwha acquires Ourhome for $622 million in push to revive food business

South Korea’s Hanwha Group has completed the acquisition of the country’s No. 2 food service and catering company Ourhome Ltd. for 869.5 ...

Corporate strategy

SK Group seeks to sell SK Signet as part of sweeping portfolio realignment

South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate SK Group is seeking to divest SK Signet Inc., four years after acquiring the EV charger manufacturing...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Samsung bets on data center HVAC with $1.7 bn FläktGroup acquisition

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday announced the acquisition of FläktGroup, a German manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning...

Mergers & Acquisitions

MBK’s Lotte Card sale gains momentum amid Homeplus fallout

North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners’ second attempt to exit Lotte Card Co., South Korea’s fifth-largest car issuer, is ga...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Mubadala, Goldman Sachs to invest $700 mn in Kakao Mobility

United Arab Emirates’ sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. and Goldman Sachs are set to invest a combined $700 million in Kakao Mobili...

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...