Test case looms for Korea’s revised Commercial Act as VIP Asset challenges Lotte Rental’s rights issue to Affinity

Test case looms for Korea’s revised Commercial Act as VIP Asset challenges Lotte Rental’s rights issue to Affinity

Lotte Rental Co., South Korea’s No. 1 car rental and leasing company, is facing a backlash from a key minority shareholder over its planned ri...

IMM Credit closes $700 mn blind credit fund backed by NPS

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...

BOK chief warns household debt near tipping point, keeps rates steady

BOK chief warns household debt near tipping point, keeps rates steady

Rhee Chang-yong, governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK), warned on Thursday that mounting household debt is now undermining both private consumption an...

India’s love for K-ice cream spurs Lotte to boost expansion

India’s love for K-ice cream spurs Lotte to boost expansion

South Korean confectionery giant Lotte Wellfood Co. is targeting 15% sales growth in India this year, following the completion of a merger betw...

Loss-making Lotte Chemical to sell water treatment unit to Synopex

Loss-making Lotte Chemical to sell water treatment unit to Synopex

Lotte Chemical Corp., South Korea’s second-largest petrochemical company grappling with mounting losses amid a prolonged industry downturn, wi...

Lotte Biologics signs antibody drug CMO deal with UK’s Ottimo Pharma

Lotte Biologics signs antibody drug CMO deal with UK’s Ottimo Pharma

BOSTON – Lotte Biologics Co. has signed a deal to manufacture an antibody therapy for British biotech startup Ottimo Pharma as the South Korea...

JLL, Savills to lead Seoul Square sale in $1 bn deal

JLL, Savills to lead Seoul Square sale in $1 bn deal

JLL and Savills have been tapped to lead the sale of Seoul Square, a landmark office tower, valued at around 1.4 trillion won ($1 billion), adding t...

BOK chief warns against aggressive policy rate cuts, sees need for stimulus

BOK chief warns against aggressive policy rate cuts, sees need for stimulus

Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong on Thursday signaled a cautious approach to monetary easing, warning that excessive interest rate cuts could ...

Lotte Chemical, HD Hyundai seek to combine naphtha cracking facilities

Lotte Chemical, HD Hyundai seek to combine naphtha cracking facilities

Lotte Chemical Corp. and HD Hyundai Co. are in talks to consolidate their naphtha cracking operations in South Korea’s Daesan petrochemical co...

BOK turns more dovish after 25 bp rate cut; 2025 growth outlook halved

BOK turns more dovish after 25 bp rate cut; 2025 growth outlook halved

The Bank of Korea (BOK) on Thursday cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.5%, citing growing concerns over faltering do...

KIC bets on Asian real estate; eyes residential, data centers

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...

Korean teachers' fund to commit $495 mn to 10 PE firms

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...

Lotte to retake $269 mn stake in logistics arm after flopped IPO

Lotte to retake $269 mn stake in logistics arm after flopped IPO

Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate by assets, will buy back a stake in Lotte Global Logistics Co. from the latter’s f...

MBK’s Lotte Card sale gains momentum amid Homeplus fallout

MBK’s Lotte Card sale gains momentum amid Homeplus fallout

North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners’ second attempt to exit Lotte Card Co., South Korea’s fifth-largest car issuer, is g...

Kyobo Life poised to buy Japan’s SBI Group-owned savings bank

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...

India: Tantalizing frontier for K-food’s global ambitions beyond China

India: Tantalizing frontier for K-food’s global ambitions beyond China

South Korea’s processed food exports to India have surged to a record 6 trillion won ($4.1 billion), marking a significant milestone in the gr...

BOK stands pat; rate cut likely within 3 months as economic growth slows

BOK stands pat; rate cut likely within 3 months as economic growth slows

The Bank of Korea (BOK) left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.75% on Thursday, with Governor Rhee Chang-yong warning that a surge in globa...

S&P reaffirms South Korea’s AA credit rating with stable outlook

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 ...

NPS gears up for investment overhaul with boost in risk assets

NPS gears up for investment overhaul with boost in risk assets

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), the country’s largest institutional investor, is set to overhaul its investment strategy w...

S.Korea’s foreigners-only casinos bask in return of Chinese high rollers

S.Korea’s foreigners-only casinos bask in return of Chinese high rollers

South Korea’s foreigners-only casinos are witnessing a significant rise in their sales revenue with the return of high rollers from China and ...

UBS tops Korea’s buyout deal advisory in Q1 thanks to Lotte

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...

OCI to build $265 mn solar cell plant in Texas, expects $80 mn tax credit

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

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

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...

Lotte aims to take Lotte Global Logistics public by end-June

Lotte aims to take Lotte Global Logistics public by end-June

Lotte Group, grappling with a prolonged downturn in the petrochemical industry, plans to take Lotte Global Logistics Co. public by the end of June a...

Affinity Equity set to close $1.1 bn purchase of Lotte Rental

Affinity Equity set to close $1.1 bn purchase of Lotte Rental

Affinity Equity Partners said on Friday that it will sign a definitive agreement on March 11 with Lotte Group to acquire a 56.2% stake in South Kore...

S.Korea’s pension fund NPS posts record return in 2024 on US stock rally

S.Korea’s pension fund NPS posts record return in 2024 on US stock rally

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

South Korea welcomes more babies after downward birth rate spiral

South Korea welcomes more babies after downward birth rate spiral

South Korea’s fertility rate bounced back last year for the first time in nearly a decade following a surge in marriages, raising hopes for a ...

Bank of Korea cuts rates, growth forecast on Trump tariff policy

Bank of Korea cuts rates, growth forecast on Trump tariff policy

South Korea’s central bank on Tuesday cut interest rates while sharply reducing its economic growth forecast as lingering political turmoil fo...

LG Innotek ventures into automotive AP module market

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...

Kakao Pay backs out of acquisition deal for SSG Pay, Smile Pay Hanwha in talks to buy five-star hotel Paraspara Seoul Kia's Lego-like PV5 with 16 variants to hit market in July Stray Kids make K-pop history with landmark stadium show in Germany S.Korea’s most prominent business leader returns with all charges cleared