South Korea’s Lee completes cabinet lineup with IT executive, lawmaker
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has tapped an information technology firm executive as culture minister and a ruling party lawmaker as land min...
IMM Credit closes $700 mn blind credit fund backed by NPS
IMM Credit & Solutions Inc. (ICS), the private credit unit of South Korea’s major investment firm IMM Holdings Inc., has raised nearly 1 t...
K-style strikes back to win over China’s Gen Z with Musinsa at helm
Musinsa, South Korea’s fashion unicorn backed by KKR Co., is set to bring the K-style wave to China with Anta Sports Products Ltd., China's le...
Roborock’s privacy policy fuels data leak fears over Chinese goods
A new personal data processing policy from Chinese robot vacuum maker Roborock is raising fears that consumer data could be leaked to or misused by ...
Blackstone in talks to acquire Korea’s top salon chain Juno Hair in $590 mn deal
US private equity firm Blackstone Inc. is pursuing the acquisition of Juno Hair, South Korea’s largest premium hair salon chain, in a deal tha...
Netmarble to debut new games with fresh IPs, platforms in second half
Netmarble Corp. is gearing up for a strong year-end with plans to launch at least six more new games, powered by original intellectual properties, a...
Naver Financial seeks to acquire S. Korean real estate data platform Asil
Naver Financial Corp., the fintech subsidiary of South Korean tech giant Naver Corp., is looking to acquire Asil, a domestic big data-based real est...
Kakao Mobility to build smart infrastructure for Saudi Diriyah project
Kakao Mobility Corp., which runs South Korea’s most popular ride-hailing app, Kakao T, has clinched a deal to build a future mobility infrastr...
Tencent to become SM Entertainment's No. 2 shareholder via HYBE deal
Tencent Music Entertainment Group is set to become the second-largest shareholder of SM Entertainment Co. by acquiring HYBE Co.'s remaining shares i...
KIC bets on Asian real estate; eyes residential, data centers
The Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) is zeroing in on Asia’s real estate market by region, while targeting residential facilities and data c...
Shinhan Securities acquires stake in Vietnam’s top trading platform FireAnt
Shinhan Securities Co., a leading South Korean brokerage house, has acquired a strategic equity stake in FireAnt, Vietnam’s largest retail tra...
Bid heats up for IGIS-owned co-living building in Seoul
An auction for a co-living building, owned by South Korea’s top real estate asset management firm IGIS Asset Management Co., in the hip Hongda...
Korean teachers' fund to commit $495 mn to 10 PE firms
The Korean Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU), a retirement fund operator for South Korean teachers, has picked 10 local private equity firms to ru...
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...
Naver, Kurly tie up to counter e-commerce giant Coupang
South Korea’s online giant Naver Corp. and dawn grocery platform service provider Kurly Inc. have joined forces for a potential stake acquisit...
S&P reaffirms South Korea’s AA credit rating with stable outlook
S&P Global Ratings has reaffirmed South Korea’s sovereign credit rating at AA with a stable outlook, citing the country’s resilient ...
ABL Bio lands $2.8 billion license-out deal with GSK
ABL Bio Inc., a South Korean biotech company, will license out its proprietary blood-brain barrier shuttle platform, called the Grabody-B, to UK-bas...
Luxury fashion platform Balaan files for court receivership amid slump
South Korea’s top luxury goods e-commerce platform Balaan Co. said on Monday it has filed for corporate rehabilitation with a Seoul court as t...
SM Entertainment acquires additional 11.4% stake in DearU for $9.2 mn
SM Entertainment Co., South Korea’s music powerhouse behind internationally popular boy and girl bands like EXO and aespa, has acquired an add...
Koreans’ craving for luxury goods fades
Until recently, it was not unusual to see people waiting in a long line in front of foreign haute couture brands’ stores early in the morning ...
OCI to build $265 mn solar cell plant in Texas, expects $80 mn tax credit
South Korean solar cell company OCI Holdings Co. said on Thursday it will build a solar cell manufacturing plant in Texas through its US subsidiary ...
Red flags raised even before Homeplus crisis: Sales fall, credit ratings cut
Even before South Korea’s second-largest hypermarket chain Homeplus Co. was put under court receivership due to its worsening financial woes, ...
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...
KB, Samsung SRA, Capstone named NPS’ core property fund operators
South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) has selected three asset managers to oversee its domestic core real estate platform fund — ...
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 ...
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 ...
S.Korean grocery delivery platform Oasis at forefront to acquire TMON
South Korea’s grocery delivery platform Oasis Corp., which has been looking to expand its e-commerce market at home and abroad, is seeking to ...
Korea’s beauty wholesaler to invest $10 mn in fashion platform Balaan
South Korea’s cosmetics wholesaler Silicon2 Co. is set to invest $10 million in financially troubled luxury fashion e-commerce platform operat...
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...
S.Korea needs to allow short-selling for all listed stocks: FSS chief
Lee Bok-hyun, governor of South Korea’s top financial watchdog body, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), said on Thursday that there shou...
