Barunson Entertainment & Arts Corporation

Arts Seoul appeal: Korean art captivates Indonesia’s affluent connoisseurs

JAKARTA – Last Thursday, Baik Art gallery in Jakarta, Indonesia, was crowded with well-heeled art patrons eager to meet a revered artist from ...

Asset management South Korea’s young rich vs old rich: Coins, art outpace bonds, funds

Young South Korean millionaires, placing bold wagers on unconventional financial assets such as cryptocurrencies and art, are gaining ground fast, g...

Entertainment Kakao Entertainment scraps IPO, seeks new buyer

Kakao Corp., South Korea’s largest mobile platform, is looking to sell a majority stake in Kakao Entertainment Corp., dropping a plan to take ...

Entertainment Kakao Entertainment sheds loss-making units, revives IPO prospects

Kakao Entertainment Corp. has been divesting unprofitable music labels and digital content platforms, which it has gobbled up over the past few year...

Entertainment Korean entertainment stocks advance, unfazed by US tariff concerns

South Korean entertainment and gaming stocks climbed on Friday, defying a broader market drop as investors sought refuge in sectors seen as immune t...

K-pop K-pop exports boom as end of Chinese K-wave ban looms large

Exports of Korean popular music, or K-pop, have seen a significant surge in recent months, driven by increasing demand from China and Japan, accordi...

Entertainment SM Entertainment acquires additional 11.4% stake in DearU for $9.2 mn

SM Entertainment Co., South Korea’s music powerhouse behind internationally popular boy and girl bands like EXO and aespa, has acquired an add...

Airlines Korean Air changes badge before full integration with Asiana Airlines

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s largest full-service carrier, has undergone a major makeover of its corporate identity (CI) for the first ...

Regulations MBK Partners under Korean tax agency scrutiny

MBK Partners, a leading North Asia-focused private equity firm, has come under a probe by South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) amid the br...

Korean stock market Korea’s Nextrade stock exchange debuts; YG Entertainment tops 1st day

South Korea’s first alternative stock exchange Nextrade (NXT) started trading on Tuesday, challenging the Korea Exchange’s (KRX) long-st...

Private equity MBK-owned Homeplus files for corporate revamp with Seoul court

South Korea’s leading hypermarket operator Homeplus Co., wholly owned by North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners, on Tuesday filed...

Shareholder value Hana Financial to boost corporate value by raising shareholder returns

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group aims to increase corporate value by ramping up shareholder returns based on a sustainable profit structure ...

Corporate bonds One-third of Korean petrochem bonds incur valuation losses

South Korean institutional investors, including banks, insurers and securities companies, have yet to fully benefit from recent declines in bond yie...

Shareholder value S.Korea’s top financial regulator pushes tax support for value-up program

South Korea is ramping up efforts to encourage companies to enhance shareholder value by providing tax support for its corporate value-up program, a...

Corporate bonds S.Korea’s corporate bond market cools amid poor earnings

Investors’ appetite for corporate debts sold by South Korea’s petrochemical, retail and battery companies has waned this month amid grim...

Private debt Real estate debt outshines corporate credit: Savills IM

Private credit has been among the top picks for alternative investors over the past few years. During the period of high interest rates, corporate l...

Corporate bonds Korean petrochemical sector to sell corporate bonds amid downturn

South Korea’s petrochemical producers are set to issue corporate bonds to take advantage of ample liquidity at the beginning of the year amid ...

Retail KT&G establishes Uzbekistan corporation

South Korean tobacco maker KT&G Corp. said on Monday it established the Uzbekistan corporation, aiming to boost its tobacco brand awareness in...

IPOs Korean entertainment powerhouse K Wave Media to debut on Nasdaq in Feb

K Wave Media Ltd., an umbrella entity of South Korean entertainment companies, is set to go public on the Nasdaq next month in a bid to raise money ...

Debt financing Korea debt financing faces woes as $34 bn in corporate bonds mature in H1

South Korea’s financial markets will see nearly 50 trillion won ($34 billion) in corporate bonds mature in the first half of next year —...

Corporate bonds Korea Inc. to face refunding risks with record corporate bond maturities

South Korean companies are expected to face refunding risks thanks to record corporate bond maturities in the first half of 2025, as fundraising con...

Foreign exchange South Korea to ease foreign exchange regulations, expand FX swap line

South Korea’s foreign authorities said on Friday they will ease foreign exchange regulations to allow more dollars into the domestic financial...

Debt financing POSCO to raise up to $691 million as next year’s 1st corporate bond issuer

South Korea’s steel-to-battery materials conglomerate POSCO Group plans to raise up to 1 trillion won ($691 million) in the country’s fi...

Shareholder value LG Electronics to retire about $50 mn treasury stock in 2025

LG Electronics Inc. will retire 761,000 shares in 2025, or around 0.5% of its outstanding shares, to increase shareholder returns, the South Korean ...

Corporate strategy Doosan Bobcat unveils massive corporate value-up plans

Doosan Bobcat Inc., a global construction machinery maker owned by South Korea’s Doosan Group, has unveiled massive corporate value-up measure...

IPOs Sono International seeks IPO in 2025 with $2.1 billion in corporate value

South Korea’s top resort operator Sono International Co. is seeking an initial public offering of its shares on the Korean market next year, r...

Korean games S.Korea's Smilegate invests in GTA producer's studio

Smilegate, the South Korean developer of the world’s top first-person shooter game Crossfire, said on Tuesday it invested in the US-based medi...

E-commerce China’s Alibaba acquires 5% of Ably in 1st equity investment in Korean firm

Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has invested 100 billion won ($71.4 million) in South Korea’s top women’s cloth...

Mergers & Acquisitions Korea Zinc’s role questioned in SM Entertainment stock manipulation case

When OneAsia Partners, a Seoul-based private equity fund operator, revised part of its PEF Havana I’s articles of association on Feb. 14, 2023...

Entertainment SM's UK K-pop group Dear Alice to debut with Gamma

South Korea's SM Entertainment Co. partnered with the US-based music label "Gamma." to globally debut its first British K-Pop boy group Dear Alice.A...