Life Science

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...

Debt financing Kookmin Bank raises $700 mn in forex bonds amid strong demand

Kookmin Bank, a unit of KB Financial Group, raised $700 million in foreign exchange bonds on Tuesday, signaling a recovery in investor sentiment tow...

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 Savin...

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...

Mergers & Acquisitions Meritz drops bid for troubled MG Non-Life Insurance; Liquidation looms

Meritz Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s second-most valuable financial holding firm, has dropped its bid to acquire financial distressed MG...

Private equity Affinity, GIC sell out of Kyobo Life; Chairman Shin seeks holding firm, M&A

Affinity Equity Partners and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC have sold their entire stake in Kyobo Life Insurance Co., exiting from thei...

Private equity Kyobo Life’s Shin in talks with Affinity, GIC over exits below purchase price

Kyobo Life Insurance Co., South Korea’s third-largest life insurer, is in talks with some of its financial investors (FIs) to help them exit f...

Corporate restructuring Samsung Life, Samsung Fire sell $193 mn in Samsung Electronics shares

Samsung Life Insurance Co., South Korea’s largest life insurer, and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., the country’s No. 1 non-lif...

Corporate restructuring Samsung Life mulls putting Samsung Fire under its wing as subsidiary

Samsung Life Insurance Co., South Korea’s largest life insurer, is considering bringing Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., the country&r...

Mergers & Acquisitions Hanwha Life acquires US securities firm Velocity

South Korea's Hanwha Life Insurance said on Wednesday it signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire a 75% stake in Velocity Clearing LLC, ...

Artificial intelligence SK Telecom unveils AI personal agent Aster for global users

SK Telecom Co. on Tuesday unveiled an AI-driven personal assistant Aster (A*) that understands users' intentions and goes beyond answering simple qu...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD Hyundai to build int'l standards for carbon emissions

South Korea's HD Hyundai Marine Solution Co. said on Wednesday that it signed a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Agreement with HD Hyundai Samho and the ...

Insurance DB Insurance outshines domestic rivals in global business

DB Insurance Co. raked in the biggest profits from overseas operations among South Korean insurance companies in the first half of this year, leadin...

Electronics LG NOVA hosts Innovation Festival in US

LG Electronics Inc. 's North American Innovation Center (LG NOVA) said on Monday that it held an Innovation Festival last Wednesday and Thursday at ...

Mergers & Acquisitions Woori signs $1.16 bn deal to acquire Tongyang, ABL Life from China’s Dajia

Woori Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s fourth-largest financial services provider, said on Wednesday it has signed a deal to acquire Tongya...

Electronics LG Elec opens LG Labs experience pop-up zone

LG Electronics Inc. announced on Wednesday that it will operate the "Wow Life's Good Lab" pop-up zone at Ground 220 in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, until...

Artificial intelligence Spear Korea to acquire AI medical firm Life Semantics

South Korea's aerospace materials company Spear Korea will acquire artificial intelligence (AI) medical firm Life Semantics Co. Life Semantics ...

Mergers & Acquisitions MG Non-Life Insurance deal falls through with no bidders

The sale of South Korean mid-sized insurer MG Non-Life Insurance Co. has been canceled as the financially distressed insurer failed to attract any b...

Insurance Kyobo Life nurtures 136 startups over 7 years

South Korea's Kyobo Life Insurance Group announced on Thursday that it nurtured 136 impact businesses (Impact-Ups) in seven years to create social v...

Batteries Korea to keep track of EV battery life cycles for recycling

The South Korean government will monitor electric vehicle (EV) battery life cycles to share information on the lifespan, performance and accident hi...

Insurance Kyobo Life, Japan’s SBI to team up on security token, digital finance

South Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance Group and Japan’s SBI Group have entered into a strategic business partnership agreement to expand th...

Leadership & Management Kyobo Life CEO’s ethical management earns global recognition

Kyobo Life Insurance Co.'s Chairman Shin Chang-jae is internationally recognized for setting the global standard for ethical management after two de...

Corporate bonds Hanwha Life Financial Services gets A+ credit rating

South Korea's Hanwha Life Financial Services said on Tuesday it received an A+ (Stable) credit rating from Korea Ratings, becoming the first domes...

Insurance Kyobo Life gets Moody's A1 credit rating for 10 consecutive years

South Korea's Kyobo Life Insurance Co. announced on Tuesday that it has received an A1 (stable) insurance financial strength rating from Moody's Rat...

Banking & Finance Shinhan Financial units to reside under one roof in Vietnam

Shinhan Financial Group Co. is upping the ante in the Vietnamese financial market to further widen the gap with rivals as the country’s leadin...

Insurance Kyobo Life gets AAA IFS rating for 18 consecutive years

South Korea's Kyobo Life Insurance Co. announced on Thursday that it received the highest rating of AAA for insurer financial strength (IFS) from th...

Bio & Pharma Samsung Life Science invests in US biotech firm Latus Bio

Samsung Life Science Fund, managed by Samsung Group’s venture investment arm, has invested in US biotechnology firm Latus Bio Inc. during the ...

Banking & Finance Hanwha Life to buy stake in Indonesia's Lippo-owned bank

South Korea’s second-largest insurer Hanwha Life Insurance Co., with 109 trillion won ($79.4 billion) in total assets as of end-September 2023...

Insurance Hanwha, 1st Korean insurer to earn dividends from overseas unit

Hanwha Life Insurance Co. is set to earn dividends from its Vietnamese subsidiary, reporting a cumulative profit after 15 years, becoming South Kore...

Mergers & Acquisitions KDB halts KDB Life sale process to take full control

The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) has suspended the protracted sale process of KDB Life Insurance Co. to take full control of the insurer b...