Kakao performance

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...

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...

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 ...

Business & Politics IFEZ posts 2nd-highest FDI performance with $309.6 million in Q1

The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) Authority said on Monday that it attracted $309.6 million in reported foreign direct investment (FDI) in the f...

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-...

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...

Batteries LG Chem unveils precursor-free cathode material for batteries

LG Chem Ltd. is set to become the first South Korean company to mass-produce precursor-free cathode materials, designed for high- and mid-nickel bat...

Alternative investments S.Korean investors name their 33 favorite alternative asset managers

Blackstone and HarbourVest Partners are South Korean institutional investors’ preferred private equity firms, according to a survey by Korea I...

Earnings Coupang posts profit for 2 straight years in 2024 on new growth drivers

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s answer to global e-commerce giant Amazon.com, ended last year with profit for the second straight year thanks to t...

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...

Private equity How STIC Investments’ bet on animal fat processor DK O&T paid off

In South Korea, businesses handling livestock by-products have lacked investor appeal. They were usually mom-and-pop businesses and appeared to hold...

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...

Culture & Trends Baby Shark receives three Emmy nominations

South Korea's The Pinkfong Company, popularly known for its "Baby Shark" character, said on Friday that "Baby Shark’s Big Movie" received thre...

Energy KEPCO expects all-time high $207 mn in 2024 overseas investment returns

Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO), the state-run utility company, expects to post its highest-ever overseas business performance this year, thanks ...

Electric vehicles Gensis launches motorsport team to race in high-performance segment

Hyundai Motor Co.'s premium brand Genesis on Wednesday launched a racing team and unveiled a motorsports prototype to raise its presence in the glob...

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...

Korean Investors In South Korea, cash is king on US election, Samsung uncertainties

South Korean investors are hoarding cash as Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top memory chipmaker, hurts local stocks and uncertainties ov...

Corporate bonds S&P upgrades SK Innovation credit rating to BBB-

Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced on Friday that it upgraded SK Innovation Co.'s long-term credit rating from a ...

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...

Webtoons Instagram poised to crack Korean webcomics market

Big tech has begun its encroachment on the South Korean webcomics market, largely dominated by local players over the past two decades, fanning fear...

Aerospace & Defense Hanwha Asset taps US for Korean defense ETF listing

Hanwha Asset Management Co., a financial service sibling of South Korea’s major defense and aerospace developer Hanwha Aerospace Co., is seeki...

Artificial intelligence Kakao to launch AI messenger service Kanana in H1 2025

South Korea’s platform giant Kakao Corp. will roll out Kanana, a conversational AI agent-integrated messenger app, in the first half of next y...

Economy S.Korea’s exports fall 2.9% in first 20 days of October; chip sales strong

South Korea’s exports, the country’s main growth driver, fell 2.9% in the first 20 days of October amid falling demand for vehicles and ...

Future mobility Kakao Mobility, Samsung C&T to co-work on robot, parking solutions

Kakao Mobility Corp., South Korea’s largest taxi-hailing app operator, announced on Friday that it signed a business agreement with Samsung C&...

Electronics LG Elec named Lowe's 2024 vendor partner of year

LG Electronics Inc. said on Wednesday that it was named Lowe's 2024 Vendor Partners of the Year. Lowe's operates over 1,700 home improvement store...