KB Vietnam Focus

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 ...

Business & Politics Seoul mulls joint review of Alaska LNG project with Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam

South Korea has proposed forming a consortium with Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam to jointly assess the feasibility of investing in the $45 billion Alask...

Asset management Mirae Asset bets on China as Korean investors’ US focus draws concern

South Korea’s leading asset manager Mirae Asset Financial Group is increasingly unveiling China-focused investment products as Chairman P...

Earnings S.Korea’s top 4 financial holding firms cheer upbeat Q1 results

South Korea’s top four financial holding companies – Shinhan, KB, Hana and Woori – reported stellar earnings for the first quarter...

Earnings KB Financial logs 61% profit growth, rebounding from ELS fiasco

KB Financial Group Inc. on Thursday reported a 61% jump in first-quarter profit, led by a nearly threefold rise in earnings at its flagship unit Koo...

Alternative investments Meritz backs half of ex-manager’s $210 mn hedge fund

Meritz Financial Group Inc., one of South Korea’s most aggressive alternative asset managers, has committed 150 billion won ($105 million) to ...

Automobiles Hyundai to launch 42 new cars to cope with Trump tariffs, EV slowdown

Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s third-largest automaker, plans to unveil 42 new models, including hybrids of existing cars, next year to cope...

Automobiles Kumho Tire eyes Poland, Serbia, Portugal for 1st European plant

Kumho Tire Co., South Korea’s No. 2 tire maker, is evaluating Poland, Serbia and Portugal as a potential site for its first plant in Europe as...

Corporate strategy Orion behind original Choco Pie to invest $580 million in new plants

Orion Corp., a South Korean confectionery and snack manufacturer, will inject 830 billion won ($580 million) over three years to expand snack manufa...

Private equity Geopolitics rewrite investment playbook – and that’s an opportunity: KKR

In an era of escalating geopolitical uncertainty, the head of one of the world’s largest private equity firms sees opportunity – not ret...

Automobiles Hyundai chief Chung, GM CEO Barra to meet September in Detroit

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Chung Euisun and General Motors Co. Chair and Chief Executive Mary Barra are slated to meet in September in D...

Asset management Stay liquid, be selective, look outside US tech, says TCW CEO

Global financial markets are facing rising volatility and uncertainty this year as the US stock market rally led by Big Tech is losing steam amid co...

Business & Politics Samsung, LG review strategies as Trump slaps Vietnam with steeper tariffs

South Korea’s two leading electronics makers – Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. – are being forced to reassess thei...

League table UBS tops Korea’s buyout deal advisory in Q1 thanks to Lotte

UBS Group AG, the frontrunner in South Korea's M&A market last year, retained the top position in the country's buyout advisory market in the fi...

Real estate Warburg Pincus-Wide Creek Asset JV picks up 2nd Korean logistics asset

US private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC and South Korean real estate manager Wide Creek Asset Management Co. are building a logistics center for l...

Pension funds KB, Samsung SRA, Capstone named NPS’ core property fund operators

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) has selected three asset managers to oversee its domestic core real estate platform fund — ...

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 to...

Korean chipmakers SK Hynix to exit image sensor market to focus on AI chips

SK Hynix Inc. will shutter its image sensor business as the South Korean memory giant doubles down on the development of premium artificial intellig...

Real estate Macquarie to sell Seoul hotel to KB Asset for $119 million

Macquarie Asset Management is poised to sell a four-star hotel in Seoul for about 170 billion won ($118.7 million) to South Korea’s KB Asset M...

Corporate restructuring SK Ecoplant seeks to sell waste treatment business for $1.4 billion

SK Ecoplant Co., a South Korean construction engineering and waste management company under SK Group, is seeking to dispose of its waste treatment b...

Earnings Naver founder to return as board chair; 2024 earnings solid

Lee Hae-jin, the founder of South Korea’s No. 1 internet portal operator Naver Corp., is set to return to the company to lead the board amid t...

Artificial intelligence LG, SNU team up to develop AI modeling for protein structure predictions

LG AI Research Institute, the artificial intelligence think-tank of LG Group, South Korea’s fourth-biggest conglomerate, on Thursday signed a ...

Banking & Finance KB Financial to buy back $359 bn in shares after record net profit in 2024

KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s largest financial holding group, will spend nearly 1.8 trillion won ($1.2 billion) to boost shareholder...

Earnings Korean financial holding firms log record-high profits in 2024

South Korea’s top four financial holding firms are estimated to have posted their highest-ever profits in 2024, driven by hefty interest incom...

Earnings Samsung to focus on HBM, other high-end chips after weak Q4 earnings

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, on Friday vowed to cut its production of legacy chips and increase sales of pre...

Earnings Samsung Biologics posts record 2024 sales, operating profit as it goes global

South Korea's Samsung Biologics Co., the world’s largest contract drugmaker, on Wednesday posted its largest-ever annual sales and operating p...

Aerospace & Defense Hanwha Aerospace nears $276 million K9 howitzer deal with Vietnam

South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace Co. is close to signing a 400 billion won ($276 million) deal to export as many as 30 units of the K9 Thunder s...

Investment banking MBK’s ByungJu Kim, UBS’ Kyungin Lee: Most influential in capital market

Michael ByungJu Kim, co-founder, partner and chairman of Northeast Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners Ltd., and Kyungin David Lee, UBS Gl...

Automobiles Kia starts to produce Syros SUV in India

Kia Corp. started mass production of the Syros, a versatile sports utility vehicle (SUV) specifically designed to meet the needs of customers in I...

Private equity Korea’s Hwasung Cosmetics shines with Affirma Capital’s Midas touch

Singapore-based private equity firm Affirma Capital has turned Hwasung Cosmetics into an emerging original design manufacturer (ODM) for global beau...