venture capital

Earnings KakaoBank posts record Q1 profit, eyes Thai expansion after Indonesia

KakaoBank Corp., a leading South Korean internet-only bank, posted its highest quarterly profit in the first quarter, defying a drop in interest inc...

Mergers & Acquisitions Soon for sale: Altos Ventures-backed Cafe Knotted operator

Silicon Valley-based Altos Ventures-backed Good Food For Good (GFFG), operator of South Korea’s popular dessert cafe, Cafe Knotted, will likel...

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...

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...

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...

Electronics LG Innotek ventures into automotive AP module market

LG Innotek Co., a major South Korean electronics parts developer, has forayed into the automotive application processor (AP) module market, poised f...

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 ...

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...

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...

Petrochemicals HS Hyosung Advanced Materials seeks to sell tire steel cord business

South Korea’s HS Hyosung Advanced Materials Corp. is seeking to sell its tire steel cord business to secure funds for its new growth ventures ...

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...

E-commerce Korea’s Shinsegae, China’s Alibaba to set up e-commerce joint venture

South Korea’s retail conglomerate Shinsegae Group has joined forces with Chinese online shopping giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to better co...

Bio & Pharma Celltrion BioSolutions launched to venture into CDMO

Celltrion Inc. on Tuesday launched its contract development and manufacturing organization unit Celltrion BioSolutions Co. in its foray into the CDM...

Automobiles Hyundai AutoEver establishes JV in Indonesia

South Korea's Hyundai AutoEver Corp. said on Monday it built the joint venture PT Terra Link technology in Indonesia with India's MapmyIndia. T...

Automobiles Hyundai, BAIC to inject $1.1 bn in China joint venture  

Hyundai Motor Co. and its Chinese partner Beijing Motor Corp. (BAIC) will jointly invest $1.1 billion in their joint venture, which produces and sel...

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...