Wise Road Capital

Venture capital South Korea’s startup M&A winter deepens capital bottleneck  

South Korea’s startup M&A winter has deepened as once major investors like conglomerates are prioritizing restructuring over expansion, ch...

ASK 2025 NPS, KIC step up focus on mid-market infrastructure

The National Pension Service (NPS) and Korea Investment Corp. (KIC) are actively exploring mid-market infrastructure opportunities as they are expec...

Banking & Finance Shinhan Financial’s Jin meets with Goldman Sachs Int'l CEO for strategies

Jin Ok-dong, chairman of South Korea’s leading financial conglomerate Shinhan Financial Group, has met with senior executives of US-based mult...

Shareholder value Korean financial firms launch global IR blitz to woo foreign capital  

Chiefs of South Korea’s major financial groups – Shinhan, Woori and iM – are ramping up global investor outreach with new sharehol...

Private equity Bain Capital sells 6% stake in Korea’s Classys via block deal for $163 million

Bain Capital LP has offloaded a 6% stake in South Korean medical aesthetics company Classys Inc. through a block trade, raising 228 billion won ($16...

Beauty & Cosmetics Seoul-backed K-beauty brands set to make global mark

As Korean beauty products continue to captivate global consumers, five Seoul-based cosmetics and wellness companies are gearing up to penetrate deep...

Earnings Hyundai Motor posts solid Q1; rough road ahead on Trump's auto tariffs

South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. defied mounting global trade headwinds and a fresh round of US import tariffs to deliver record ...

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...

Automobiles Genesis premieres premium electric off-road SUV X Gran Equator Concept

NEW YORK – Genesis, the luxury brand of South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co., has premiered its first electric off-roader conce...

Shareholder activism US PE firm Miri Capital ups stake in Korea’s STIC Investments

US private equity firm Miri Capital Management LLC said on Tuesday it has raised its stake in STIC Investments Inc. to step up its shareholder activ...

Aerospace & Defense Hanwha Aerospace slashes planned rights offering size to $1.6 billion

Hanwha Aerospace Co., a leading South Korean defense company, said on Tuesday it plans to slash the size of its proposed rights offering to 2.3 tril...

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...

Pension funds CPPIB invests in Seoul office building for rental housing conversion

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and South Korean property developer MGRV have jointly acquired the headquarters of a domestic women...

Shipping & Shipbuilding Hanwha wins $1.6 billion order to build 6 container ships for Evergreen

Hanwha Ocean Co., a leading South Korean shipbuilder, said on Monday it has won a 2.33 trillion won ($1.61 billion) order to build six eco-friendly,...

Mergers & Acquisitions CHA Biotech seeks to resume healthcare unit IPO after affiliates’ merger

CHA Biotech Co., South Korea’s leading stem cell therapeutics developer, plans to resume an initial public offering of CHA Healthcare Co., a m...

Real estate Beauty giant CJ Olive Young to buy Seoul office building for $472 mn

CJ Olive Young Corp., South Korea’s top beauty store chain, has been given priority rights to buy an office building in Seoul for about 680 bi...

Private equity Bain Capital acquires control of Mohegan's Korean resort

Private equity firm Bain Capital has acquired control of Mohegan Inspire Entertainment Resort on Yeongjong Island, the largest integrated resort in ...

Real estate GIC at forefront of $413-mn deal to buy hotels from South Korea’s DL Group

Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte. has been given priority rights to buy three hotels valued at more than 600 billion won ($413 million) toget...

Shipping & Shipbuilding HD Hyundai in talks to buy back Korean ship parts maker

HD Hyundai Co., the world’s second-largest shipbuilder, is in talks with a private equity firm to buy back a South Korean ship parts manufactu...

Asset management US Capital Group raises stake in South Korea’s LS Electric

Capital Group Companies Inc. has increased its stake in LS Electric Co., a South Korean supplier to Elon Musk’s X.AI Corp., as the US asset ma...

Real estate CPPIB to enter South Korean rental housing market

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), one of the world’s top 10 global pension fund managers, is joining other foreign asset manag...

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...

Banking & Finance Hana Financial, Bain Capital to expand investment in S.Korea

South Korean Hana Financial Group and the US-based global well-known private equity fund (PEF) Bain Capital plan to strengthen their strategic par...

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...

Real estate Koramco seeks to sell Seoul prime office tower in $272 million deal

South Korea’s Koramco REITs Management & Trust Co. is poised sell a prime office building in Seoul in an estimated 400 billion won ($272 m...

Mergers & Acquisitions Corstone, Q Capital in talks with foreign investors to sell K-chicken chain

Seoul-based private equity firms Corstone Asia and Q Capital Partners are in talks with foreign investors to sell a South Korean fried chicken chain...

Private equity Premier Partners, Praxis Capital lead 2024 Korea PE fundraising

Premier Partners and Praxis Capital are on track to raise 1 trillion won ($680 million) in their respective funds after the two South Korean private...

Korean startups Language learning app Speakeasy joins ranks of unicorn startups

Speakeasy Labs Inc., a South Korea-focused language learning app operator, has joined the ranks of unicorn startups after raising $78 million at a v...

Capital raising Korean firms halt bond, share issues despite tighter liquidity

South Korean companies are postponing bond issues and initial public offerings on chilled investor sentiment in the aftermath of President Yoon Suk ...

Banking & Finance KB Asset parts ways with Dragon Capital in Vietnam

South Korea's KB Asset Management Co. ended its delegated management agreement for public funds with Vietnam's largest asset management company, Dra...