value-added strategy

Corporate strategy KT&G eyes overseas M&A after rejecting activist fund's offer

KT&G Corp., South Korea’s dominant tobacco and ginseng producer, is seeking to acquire a Japanese ginseng company after dismissing a 1.9-t...

Business & Politics Samsung, LG review strategies as Trump slaps Vietnam with steeper tariffs

South Korea’s two leading electronics makers – Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. – are being forced to reassess thei...

Batteries LG Energy bags 1-GWh ESS battery deal from Poland’s PGE

LG Energy Solution Ltd. will supply 1 gigawatt-hour of energy storage system (ESS) batteries to a state-owned utility company in Poland in a deal ex...

Batteries SK On to supply 100 GWh of EV batteries to Nissan

SK On Co. has landed a deal to supply nearly 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electric vehicle batteries to Japanese carmaker Nissan Motor Co., which cou...

Pension funds S.Korea’s pension fund NPS to overhaul alternative investment strategy

The National Pension Service (NPS), South Korea’s state-run pension fund and the country’s largest institutional investor, plans to intr...

Webtoons Naver’s Webtoon hints at ad business expansion in 2025

Webtoon Entertainment Inc., the Nasdaq-listed storytelling platform operator under South Korea’s internet giant Naver Corp., is set to expand ...

Automobiles Kia’s Chinese operations turn to profit after 8 years; Export strategy pays off

South Korea’s No. 2 automaker Kia Corp. saw its Chinese operations turn profitable in 2024 for the first time in eight years as brisk exports ...

Private equity MBK-owned Homeplus files for corporate revamp with Seoul court

South Korea’s leading hypermarket operator Homeplus Co., wholly owned by North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners, on Tuesday filed...

Shareholder value Hana Financial to boost corporate value by raising shareholder returns

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group aims to increase corporate value by ramping up shareholder returns based on a sustainable profit structure ...

Electric vehicles Kia CEO stands firm on electrification strategy, premieres EV4 in Europe

TARRAGONA, Spain – Despite a temporary slowdown in electric vehicle demand and intensifying competition from Chinese automakers, Kia Corp. rem...

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...

Alternative investments KIC explores Europe middle-market private equity opportunities

The Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) on Monday explored investment opportunities in Europe’s middle-market private equity sector with other ...

Shareholder value S.Korea’s top financial regulator pushes tax support for value-up program

South Korea is ramping up efforts to encourage companies to enhance shareholder value by providing tax support for its corporate value-up program, a...

Automobiles Hyundai Motor launches future strategy division overseeing M&As

Hyundai Motor Group has created a future business strategy division that serves as a control tower for the automotive group’s expansion into n...

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...

Mergers & Acquisitions S.Korea’s bagel sensation London Bagel Museum attracts multiple foreign investors

London Bagel Museum, which has ignited a bagel fad in South Korea, has drawn strong interest from multiple investors from abroad for its stake sale ...

Bio & Pharma Celltrion’s Vegzelma: Most-prescribed cancer treatment in Europe

South Korea’s leading biosimilar drug developer Celltrion Inc.'s Vegzelma, a cancer drug referencing global biopharma Roche’s Avastin, h...

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...

Robotics Koh Young gets OK from FDA for brain surgery robot

Koh Young Technology Inc., a South Korean developer of 3D optical inspection devices used in electronics manufacturing, said on Monday it got 501K...

Artificial intelligence Naver D2SF invests in N.American AI startup

South Korea's online giant Naver Corp.'s startup nurturing organization D2SF (D2 Startup Factory) invested in North American AI ad tech startup Remb...

Real estate NCSOFT’s NC Tower up for sale with its value estimated at $272 million

The sales of several office buildings along Teheran-ro in Seoul's upscale Gangnam Business District (GBD) are gaining momentum.The bidding for the...

Memo from Howard Marks Prices are not high enough? Trees don't grow to the sky

The S&P 500 index just experienced its best two-year streak since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, with the hype surrounding artificial intel...

Mergers & Acquisitions MBK Partners’ vice chair vows to hike Korea Zinc’s value to $20.6 billion

The battle over Korea Zinc Inc.'s management control between Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yun-birm and the Young Poong Corp.-MBK Partners alliance has b...

Economy South Korea jumps to world’s No. 6 exporter; 2025 outlook dims

South Korea has sharply narrowed the gap in export value with Japan to a record low of $20.2 billion so far this year. But the country’s expor...

Cryptocurrencies Koreans flock to cryptos amid Trump-fueled crypto craze

The number of South Koreans investing in cryptocurrencies recently broke past 15 million — about 30% of the country’s population —...

Mergers & Acquisitions Hahn & Co. to buy controlling stake in SK’s specialty gas unit for $1.9 bn

South Korea’s private equity firm Hahn & Co. is set to acquire a controlling stake in the world’s top specialty gas producer SK Spec...

Foreign exchange Korea to relax FX rules by December to boost dollar selling

South Korea will raise the limits on forward dollar purchases and expand the foreign exchange swap line between the National Pension Service (NPS) a...

Corporate strategy POSCO Holdings unveils aggressive value-up plan, hike in cash dividends

South Korea’s steel-to-battery materials conglomerate POSCO Group on Monday unveiled a spate of corporate value-up measures, including a highe...

Shareholder value LG Electronics to retire about $50 mn treasury stock in 2025

LG Electronics Inc. will retire 761,000 shares in 2025, or around 0.5% of its outstanding shares, to increase shareholder returns, the South Korean ...

Corporate strategy Doosan Bobcat unveils massive corporate value-up plans

Doosan Bobcat Inc., a global construction machinery maker owned by South Korea’s Doosan Group, has unveiled massive corporate value-up measure...