Kakao Pay Siebert acquisition

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 Mobil...

Earnings KakaoBank posts record Q1 profit, eyes Thai expansion after Indonesia

KakaoBank Corp., a leading South Korean internet-only bank, posted its highest quarterly profit in the first quarter, defying a drop in interest inc...

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&rsquo...

Markets Kakao shares sink on SK Telecom’s stake sell-off news

Kakao Corp. shares underperformed its peers and the broad market on Friday after SK Telecom Co. sold off its entire stake in the South Korean platfo...

Shareholder activism Korea not to appeal ruling in favor of Mason Capital in Samsung case

South Korea said on Friday it has decided not to appeal a Singaporean court’s rejection of its lawsuit to annul an investor-state dispute sett...

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...

Mergers & Acquisitions VIG taps KDB financing to buy 40% stake in Kakao Mobility

South Korea’s private equity firm VIG Partners’ buyout of minority stakes in Kakao Mobility Corp., the nation’s most popular taxi-...

Debt financing MBK chairman to leverage own funds to pay Homeplus suppliers

Michael ByungJu Kim, the co-founder, partner and chairman of Northeast Asia-focused private equity firm (PEF) MBK Partners Ltd., is expected to leve...

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...

Real estate BNK's planned acquisition of Hyundai Motor Securities building falters

BNK Asset Management Co.'s bid to acquire the Hyundai Motor Securities building in central Seoul has hit a stumbling block as the main tenant, Hyund...

Leadership & Management Kakao founder Kim to resign as control tower chair

Kakao Corp. founder Kim Beom-soo, also known as Brian Kim, will step down as chairman of the South Korean tech giant’s top decision-making bod...

Executive reshuffles Naver to name new CFO as incumbent financial manager's term nears end

South Korea’s tech giant Naver Corp. is expected to soon announce a new chief financial officer as its current CFO Kim Nam-sun, credited for t...

Automobiles Kia’s Chinese operations turn to profit after 8 years; Export strategy pays off

South Korea’s No. 2 automaker Kia Corp. saw its Chinese operations turn profitable in 2024 for the first time in eight years as brisk exports ...

Korean chipmakers TSMC’s potential deal with Intel keeps Samsung on edge

South Korea’s semiconductor industry is closely watching developments in talks between TSMC and Intel Corp. over the world’s largest con...

Artificial intelligence Kakao set to announce AI partnership with OpenAI

Kakao Corp., South Korea’s dominant mobile platform, is expected to unveil a business partnership with OpenAI to incorporate the technology of...

IPOs Korean B2B fintech firm Dozn plans Kosdaq IPO for $202.5 mn market cap

South Korea’s business-to-business fintech service provider Dozn is planning an initial public offering on the Kosdaq in February for an estim...

Earnings Hanwha Ocean swings to profit, seeks 6 US Navy MRO projects

Hanwha Ocean Co., a South Korean warship builder, said on Friday it swung to profit in 2024 for the first time in four years, driven by increased sa...

Mergers & Acquisitions Korea’s Cactus PE to buy stake in Kosdaq-listed EV parts firm

South Korea’s Cactus Private Equity is set to acquire a stake in YM Tech Co., a Kosdaq-listed electric vehicle (EV) parts maker, for nearly 20...

Webtoons Piccoma tops consumer spending ranking in Japan

Kakao Piccoma, a Japanese digital comics app subsidiary of South Korean mobile giant Kakao Corp., topped the consumer spending ranking in the Japane...

Mergers & Acquisitions CVC poised to buy S.Korea’s top contact lens maker OLENS

CVC Capital Partners is in the final stage of talks to acquire OLENS, South Korea’s largest contact lens brand, for about 500 billion won ($34...

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 ...

Fintech Korea’s Naver Pay partners with WeChat Pay for mobile payments in China

South Korean tech giant Naver Corp. said on Tuesday it has partnered with WeChat Pay to offer a Naver Pay mobile pay and digital wallet service usin...

Food & Beverage Hanwha seeks acquisition of sibling feud-mired Korean catering firm Ourhome

South Korea’s Hanwha Group is seeking to acquire local catering service provider Ourhome, embroiled in the owner family's sibling disputes, fo...

Shipping & Shipbuilding Hanwha completes acquisition $100 mn Philly Shipyard

South Korean chemicals-to-defense conglomerate Hanwha Group completed the acquisition of Philly Shipyard on Friday.The size of the deal was $100 mil...

Bio & Pharma GC Biopharma acquires ABO Holding for $96 mn

South Korea’s GC Biopharma Corp. said on Thursday it acquired the US-based medical-grade source blood plasma company ABO Holding Inc. The...

Korean stock market Korean stocks diverge: Winners, losers of Yoon’s martial law debacle

South Korean stocks showed clear divergences on Wednesday amid a mixed market outlook as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration, re...

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...

Logistics Kakao Mobility, Samyang Logistics partner on fulfillment services

Kakao Mobility Corp., South Korea’s most popular ride-hailing app operator, said on Monday that it partnered with logistics firm Samyang Logis...

Future mobility Kakao Mobility to launch outdoor robot delivery

Kakao Mobility Corp., South Korea’s largest taxi-hailing app operator, said on Monday that it signed a business agreement with Robotis, a comp...