venture debt

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...

Real estate S.Korean gaming giant Netmarble eyes headquarters building sale

Netmarble Corp., a leading South Korean gaming company, is seeking to sell its headquarters building in Seoul, which could fetch up to 800 billion w...

Alternative investments S.Korean investors name their 33 favorite alternative asset managers

Blackstone and HarbourVest Partners are South Korean institutional investors’ preferred private equity firms, according to a survey by Korea I...

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...

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...

Corporate bonds LG companies flock to debt, equity markets to raise $2.8 billion

Companies under South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate LG Group scrambled to sell shares and bonds to raise 4 trillion won ($2.8 billion) e...

Real estate PAG raises $4 bn for opportunistic Asia real estate fund

PAG, an Asia Pacific-focused alternative investment firm, on Friday announced the final close of its 10th opportunistic real estate fund at $4 billi...

Sovereign bonds Foreigners return to Korean debt market; Korea on course to join WGBI

Foreigners scooped up South Korean government bonds in January despite the country’s ongoing political upheavals, betting big on the country&r...

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 ...

Debt financing Korean bonds heavily oversubscribed in January boom

South Korea’s debt market got off to a strong start this year, as several blue chip companies made a bold return to the bond market for new is...

Private debt Real estate debt outshines corporate credit: Savills IM

Private credit has been among the top picks for alternative investors over the past few years. During the period of high interest rates, corporate l...

Private equity Korean lenders to Accell warn they may boycott KKR

KKR & Co. is facing a huge backlash from South Korean financial services firms after the debt restructuring of Dutch bicycle manufacturer Accell...

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...

Debt financing Korea debt financing faces woes as $34 bn in corporate bonds mature in H1

South Korea’s financial markets will see nearly 50 trillion won ($34 billion) in corporate bonds mature in the first half of next year —...

Corporate bonds Korea Inc. to face refunding risks with record corporate bond maturities

South Korean companies are expected to face refunding risks thanks to record corporate bond maturities in the first half of 2025, as fundraising con...

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...

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 ...

Infrastructure IFM Investors bets big on infrastructure investing: Gee-Grant

IFM Investors, a global investment manager owned by Australian pension funds, is looking to infrastructure as the fastest-growing asset segment for ...

Korean games S.Korea's Smilegate invests in GTA producer's studio

Smilegate, the South Korean developer of the world’s top first-person shooter game Crossfire, said on Tuesday it invested in the US-based medi...

Petrochemicals HD Hyundai Oilbank ventures into bioenergy sector as new growth driver

HD Hyundai Oilbank Co., a South Korean crude oil refiner backed by Saudi Aramco, is diversifying its business beyond fossil fuel-centered operations...

Entertainment SM's UK K-pop group Dear Alice to debut with Gamma

South Korea's SM Entertainment Co. partnered with the US-based music label "Gamma." to globally debut its first British K-Pop boy group Dear Alice.A...

Corporate restructuring S.Korea to restructure ailing petrochemical industry

South Korea plans to restructure the struggling domestic petrochemical industry amid intensifying competition with Chinese rivals and oversupply by ...

Tech, Media & Telecom Naver, Saudi Arabia's NHC to build JV

South Korea’s Naver Corp. said on Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Arabia’s National Housing Company (NHC...

Construction & Planning Samsung E&A wins $214 mn petrochem plant contract in Qatar

Samsung E&A Co. said on Friday that it won a contract for the RLP ethylene storage plant construction project in Qatar, valued at 300 billion wo...

Electronics LG Electronics to venture into food waste disposer market

LG Electronics Inc., the world's largest home appliance maker, will foray into the food waste disposer market in the first quarter of 2025, heraldin...

Economy Korea’s household debt sees ‘balloon effect’ as rules tightened in Seoul

South Korea’s household lending market is witnessing a balloon effect as tighter government lending rules for Seoul and its surrounding metrop...