intermediate holding company

Corporate strategy Hankook & Company to set up CVC with $11 mn in funding

Hankook & Company Co., the holding company of Hankook Tire & Technology Co., announced Thursday a plan to launch a wholly owned corporate ve...

Korean games NCSOFT invests in US game startup emptyvessel

NCSOFT Corp. has made an equity investment in emptyvessel, a US indie games studio, as part of efforts to expand into the first-person shooter genre...

Bio & Pharma Samsung Biologics bags $514 mn CMO contract from US pharma

Samsung Biologics Co., the world’s largest contract manufacturing organization (CMO), said on Monday it has secured a $5.14 million order from...

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...

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...

Batteries POSCO Future M to make spherical graphite as it cuts dependence on China

POSCO Future M Co., South Korea’s leading battery materials maker, is set to manufacture spherical graphite – a critical material for ba...

Tech, Media & Telecom LG CNS breaks into US smart city market

LG CNS Co., the information technology service unit of South Korea’s LG Group, has won its first public-sector smart city contracts in the US,...

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...

Aerospace & Defense South Korean defense industry thriving on strong overseas demand

The South Korean defense industry's current heyday is expected to continue for a while as global demand for Korean-made weapons and combat systems h...

Automobiles Kia to build North America-targeted electric pickup model

Kia Corp., South Korea’s second-largest carmaker, will build an electric pickup model tailored for North America to enter the world’s la...

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 S.Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ousted; new presidential election coming

South Korea’s Constitutional Court permanently removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday, making him the country’s second pr...

Business & Politics S.Korean court to rule on impeached President Yoon’s fate April 4

South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Friday will give its ruling on President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December for declaring mart...

Leadership & Management Hanwha gears up for 3rd-generation leadership with chairman’s stake gift

South Korea’s chemical-to-defense conglomerate Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn will hand over half of his holdings in the conglomerate&rs...

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...

Leadership & Management Naver to build sovereign AI, says founder Lee after return

South Korea’s No. 1 internet portal operator Naver Corp. will build strong sovereign artificial intelligence to fight the growing dominance of...

Pension funds Korea’s pension fund NPS rules out investing in MBK’s hostile M&A deals

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) said on Monday it will not participate in investments related to hostile mergers and acquisitions...

Pension funds NPS to buy stake in Australia’s Metrics to expand alternative investments

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the world’s third-largest pension fund, has agreed to buy a stake in Australian asset mana...

Energy HD Hyundai, TerraPower to commercialize next-gen SMR

South Korea’s largest shipbuilder, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., is deepening its partnership with TerraPower LLC, the US nuclear venture f...

Upcoming IPOs Hanwha Energy begins IPO process, key to 3rd-generation shift

Hanwha Energy Corp., wholly owned by Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn’s three sons, has embarked on the process of going public – a ...

Logistics LX Pantos acquires logistics center near Atlanta for $120 mn

LX Pantos Co., a logistics arm of LX International Corp., announced on Tuesday it has acquired a logistics center near Atlanta in Dalton, Georgia fo...

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...

Economy Korea to create new visa for high-quality foreign talent

South Korea said on Wednesday it plans to create a new visa to attract high-level foreign talent for advanced industries such as artificial intellig...

Mergers & Acquisitions Gaming company NXC looks to unload stroller maker Stokke

NXC Corp., the holding company of South Korea’s Nexon Games Co., is looking to unload Stokke AS, a premium baby stroller brand, for around 700...

Electronics LG Electronics hits record sales in India, paving way for 2025 IPO

LG Electronics Inc. posted its largest-ever sales in India in 2024, providing a boost to the planned initial public offering of its Indian unit this...

Stocks Meritz leaps to No. 2 financial holding firm in South Korea

Meritz Financial Group Inc., once a medium-sized financial service firm in South Korea, has become the second-most valuable publicly traded financia...

Corporate bonds One-third of Korean petrochem bonds incur valuation losses

South Korean institutional investors, including banks, insurers and securities companies, have yet to fully benefit from recent declines in bond yie...

Corporate bonds S.Korea’s corporate bond market cools amid poor earnings

Investors’ appetite for corporate debts sold by South Korea’s petrochemical, retail and battery companies has waned this month amid grim...

Stocks KKR recoups $206 mn in block sale of HD Hyundai Marine shares

Global private equity firm KKR & Co. Inc. has succeeded in cashing out of its stake in HD Hyundai Marine Solution Co. for 295 billion won ($206 ...

Earnings Meritz cheers record profit in 2024, boasts top 3 market cap

Meritz Financial Group Inc. has reported its best-ever net profit for last year thanks to handsome gains from investments by its insurance and secur...