owner family

Travel & Leisure SoftBank-backed Yanolja raises stake in Modetour as No. 2 shareholder

South Korea’s top travel and accommodation booking platform operator Yanolja Co. has increased its stake in travel agency Modetour Network Inc...

Airlines Sono Hospitality becomes new owner of Korean budget carrier T’way Air

South Korea’s top resort operator Sono Hospitality Group has emerged as the new owner of budget carrier T’way Air Co. by acquiring ...

Tech, Media & Telecom KT to sell financial security unit for $59 mn for restructuring

South Korea’s KT Corp. is set to sell Initech Co., its Kosdaq-listed financial security unit, for 85 billion won ($59.1 million) as the leadin...

Automobiles Kia starts to produce Syros SUV in India

Kia Corp. started mass production of the Syros, a versatile sports utility vehicle (SUV) specifically designed to meet the needs of customers in I...

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...

Private equity La Defense might have a say over Hanmi Pharm's family feud

La Defense Partners is expected to exercise a casting vote over the ongoing management dispute at Hanmi Science Co. after the Seoul-based private eq...

ASK 2024 Private debt remains attractive; NPLs rekindle interest

Private debt remains attractive for South Korean pension and big asset owners, although they may offer lower yields than before given recent interes...

ASK 2024 UCK Partners advises Korean-style approach for buyout deals

An increasing number of South Korean companies are on the radar of private equity investors as the firms undergo digital transformation and generati...

Shareholder activism Activist fund Palliser demands SK Square draw up value-boosting measures

UK-based activist fund Palliser Capital Ltd. is calling on SK Square Co., the investment arm of South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate SK G...

Mergers & Acquisitions Korea Zinc, Bain Capital offer $2.4 bn share buyback vs MBK

Korea Zinc Inc. said on Wednesday it will buy back shares for 3.1 trillion won ($2.4 billion) with the backing of Bain Capital to counter MBK Partne...

Electric vehicles After Mercedes Fire, EV Owners Want to Know What Battery They Have

SEOUL—The uproar over a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle that burst into flames in South Korea this month wasn’t only about fire...

Pension funds NPS signals more say in Hanmi Pharmaceutical's family feud

South Korea’s National Pension Service is indicating more active involvement in the management of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group embroiled in a ye...

North Korea A North Korean Diplomat Managed a Rare Defection: A Flight Out of Cuba

SEOUL—A North Korean diplomat posted in Cuba defected to South Korea with his family late last year, officials said this week, a rare esc...

Corporate governance Korea’s Hanmi family feud to end as key shareholder mediates

South Korean Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group’s founding family is set to conclude an ongoing feud as the group’s top individual shareholder h...

Electric vehicles Humax, HeyCharge collaborate on EV charger

South Korea's mobility solutions company Humax Co. announced on Monday that it partnered with the Germany-based electric vehicle (EV) charging techn...

Executive reshuffles Lotte Group's heir apparent joins Japan holding firm's board

Shin Yoo-yeol, the heir apparent to Lotte Group, has been elected to the board of directors of its Japanese holding company, which serves as a link ...

Leadership & Management Catering firm Ourhome taps founding family’s eldest daughter as CEO

The eldest daughter of catering service provider Ourhome Ltd.’s founding family, Koo Mi-hyun, was on Tuesday appointed chief executive of the ...

Private debt Value in the middle market: Smaller size means greater potential

Middle market direct lending can mean different things to different lenders and investors. Many, if not most, would agree that companies with over $...

Electronics Samsung releases new Bespoke AI Family Hub product

Samsung Electronics Co. announced on Friday the launch of a new "Bespoke AI Family Hub" refrigerator, designed to offer new AI experiences in everyd...

Corporate governance Hanmi to fire founder's wife, entering new round of family feud

South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group is set to enter a new chapter of an ongoing family feud less than two months after the founding famil...

Private equity Hahn & Co. overhauls Namyang board, ending family control

Private equity firm Hahn & Co. on Friday won shareholder approval to replace Namyang Dairy Products Co.'s board of directors with Hahn's executi...

Mergers & Acquisitions Hanmi’s planned merger with OCI scrapped as sons win family feud

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group’s proposed merger with OCI Holdings Co. has collapsed after two sons of the group’s founding family, who oppo...

Shareholder activism ISS backs Kumho Petrochem in family feud-triggered proxy war

Proxy advisory firm International Shareholder Services (ISS) has expressed its support for all of Kumho Petrochemical Co.'s proposals up for vote ...

Corporate governance NPS to veto adding Hyosung chair, vice chair to board

The National Pension Service (NPS) will veto the appointment of the chairman and vice chairman of Hyosung Corp. as inside board members of the de fa...

Insurance Lotte Insurance's value rises with long-term care expansion

When South Korean private equity firm JKL Partners acquired a 77% stake in Lotte Insurance Co. for about 730 billion won ($546.3 million) in 2019, m...

Electronics Samsung’s Family Hub Plus gets UL certification

Samsung Electronics Co. said on Tuesday that its 2024 Bespoke Refrigerator with Family Hub Plus has achieved the Diamond grade in an Internet of Thi...

Automobiles Hyundai, Kia enjoy renewed popularity of LPG trucks Porter, Bongo

Many economists are trumpeting weak business conditions for the coming months. But an economic slowdown isn’t all that bad for Hyundai Motor C...

Leadership & Management Family feud at Kumho Petrochem set to reignite

Park Chul-whan, the nephew of Kumho Petrochemical Co.'s former Chairman Park Chan-koo, has launched a proxy fight jointly with an activist fund, fue...

Mergers & Acquisitions OCI-Hanmi merger faces tougher hurdles amid family feud

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group’s aim to merge with chemicals giant OCI Group is hitting some roadblocks amid a prolonged feud between the family o...

Regulations S.Korea should cut inheritance, gift taxes to OECD levels: SME lobby chief

South Korea, which imposes some of the highest inheritance and gift taxes on businesspeople among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Deve...