Hanwha-owned burger chain Five Guys Korea up for sale two years after launch

Hanwha-owned burger chain Five Guys Korea up for sale two years after launch

South Korea’s Hanwha Group is seeking to sell the Korean operations of US premium burger chain Five Guys, two years after the brand’s hi...

K-beauty contract manufacturers see record Q2 profits; rally likely to continue

K-beauty contract manufacturers see record Q2 profits; rally likely to continue

South Korea’s major original design manufacturers (ODMs) for cosmetics, led by Cosmax Inc. and Kolmar Korea Co., are estimated to have posted ...

Deal graveyard: S.Korean F&B franchise sales left without takers

Deal graveyard: S.Korean F&B franchise sales left without takers

Korean food is making waves globally, but back home, the story is different for food and beverage franchise operators. Franchisors in South Korea ar...

Hyundai premieres IONIQ 6 N: Latest motorsport DNA for electric age

Hyundai premieres IONIQ 6 N: Latest motorsport DNA for electric age

In a dramatic showing on the famed hill climb of West Sussex, Hyundai Motor Co. on Thursday debuted the IONIQ 6 N, its second high-performance elect...

Hong Kong-based CLSA to invest $36.6 mn in K-Beauty pioneer Jungsaemmool Beauty

Hong Kong-based CLSA to invest $36.6 mn in K-Beauty pioneer Jungsaemmool Beauty

Hong Kong-based private equity firm CLSA Capital Partners Ltd. has been picked as a preferred bidder to invest 50 billion won ($36.6 million) in Jun...

JKL Partners to acquire $150 mn cult-favorite bagel chain London Bagel

JKL Partners to acquire $150 mn cult-favorite bagel chain London Bagel

JKL Partners Inc., a Seoul-based private equity firm, is set to acquire London Bagel Museum, a growing sensation in South Korea’s booming prem...

Even barcodes copied: Counterfeits invasion threatens K-brands

Even barcodes copied: Counterfeits invasion threatens K-brands

Counterfeit Korean beauty, fashion and food products are surging on overseas e-commerce platforms, with lookalike packaging making them hard to dist...

Time to spend: Korean shoppers loosen purse strings on luxuries, hotels

Time to spend: Korean shoppers loosen purse strings on luxuries, hotels

South Korea’s long-dormant consumer sector is showing signs of revival, as shoppers – once paralyzed by political uncertainty – re...

Amazon, Alibaba, TikTok up ante to woo Korean beauty brands

Amazon, Alibaba, TikTok up ante to woo Korean beauty brands

Riding the wave of global enthusiasm for K-Beauty, e-commerce powerhouses like Amazon and Alibaba are racing to bring South Korean cosmetics and bea...

South Korean eyewear poised to spark next global K-wave

South Korean eyewear poised to spark next global K-wave

As eyewear evolves into a key fashion statement, South Korea’s homegrown brands are setting their sights on the global stage with bold, unconv...

Genesis targets broader European presence with EV trio

Genesis targets broader European presence with EV trio

Genesis, Hyundai Motor Co.'s premium brand, is expanding its European footprint to four additional countries –France, Spain, Italy and the Net...

LG Chem closes $1 bn water filter division sale to Glenwood PE

LG Chem closes $1 bn water filter division sale to Glenwood PE

LG Chem Ltd. said on Friday it has finalized the sale of its water filter business to Seoul-based Glenwood Private Equity for 1.4 trillion won ($1 b...

Coupang bids for Korean luxury market dominance with Farfetch

Coupang bids for Korean luxury market dominance with Farfetch

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s largest e-commerce player, is set to seize control of the country’s online luxury market with Farfetch amid ...

CJ Foodville goes global from in-flight meals to Starbucks bread

CJ Foodville goes global from in-flight meals to Starbucks bread

CJ Foodville Co., a South Korean food company, is deepening its presence in Southeast Asia with premium bakery products, catering to airplane passen...

Goodai Global poised to build L'Oréal-style empire via M&As

Goodai Global poised to build L'Oréal-style empire via M&As

Goodai Global Inc. is seeking to acquire South Korea’s first-generation independent cosmetics brand Skinfood for about 150 billion won ($108 m...

Shinsegae, Ascent Equity Partners weigh acquisition of C&C International

Shinsegae, Ascent Equity Partners weigh acquisition of C&C International

South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group is seeking to acquire local color cosmetics manufacturer C&C International Co. in partnership with pri...

Europe looms large as K-beauty brands look to blue ocean; shares rise

Europe looms large as K-beauty brands look to blue ocean; shares rise

South Korea’s beauty industry has been reaping decent gains from traditionally strong markets such as China and the US – the world&rsquo...

Korea’s aesthetic medicine enjoys golden era with surge in foreign spending

Korea’s aesthetic medicine enjoys golden era with surge in foreign spending

As beauty-conscious tourists continue to flock to Seoul’s clinics, South Korea’s aesthetic medicine sector may be entering a golden era,...

With Ulta deal, APR steps up US beauty push

With Ulta deal, APR steps up US beauty push

Medicube, the beauty-tech brand under South Korea’s fast-growing beauty company APR Co., will sell its products through both online and offlin...

Harman acquires Masimo’s audio arm in Samsung’s car audio push

Harman acquires Masimo’s audio arm in Samsung’s car audio push

Harman International Industries Inc., wholly owned by Samsung Electronics Co., has acquired Masimo Corp.’s audio business for $350 million, a ...

Seoul-backed K-beauty brands set to make global mark

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...

Packaging rides K-beauty wave: Shares of cosmetics container makers soar

Packaging rides K-beauty wave: Shares of cosmetics container makers soar

As South Korea’s independent beauty brands continue to take the global stage by storm, investors are now looking beyond the creams and serums ...

Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel: Winners in S.Korea’s luxury market

Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel: Winners in S.Korea’s luxury market

South Korea’s luxury goods market is becoming increasingly polarized, with ultra-high-end brands such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Chan...

Korea launches $27 mn fund to invest in K-beauty startups

Korea launches $27 mn fund to invest in K-beauty startups

South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups on Thursday announced the launch of a 40 billion won ($27 million) fund to invest in Korean beauty...

K-beauty exports to China rebound after 4-month slump

K-beauty exports to China rebound after 4-month slump

South Korea’s beauty industry is showing signs of recovery in China, with exports rebounding after four months of decline.The turnaround follo...

KFC’s Korean operations up for sale

KFC’s Korean operations up for sale

Orchestra Private Equity has begun the process of divesting the South Korean operations of fast-food chain KFC, which has seen earnings growth since...

Aekyung Industrial up for sale as group struggles to ease liquidity crunch

Aekyung Industrial up for sale as group struggles to ease liquidity crunch

South Korea’s Aekyung Group has put its flagship subsidiary, Aekyung Industrial Co., up for sale as part of broader restructuring efforts to s...

Luxury fashion platform Balaan files for court receivership amid slump

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...

Koreans’ craving for luxury goods fades

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 ...

Daol PE buys Youngil Glass to ride Korean cosmetics boom

Daol PE buys Youngil Glass to ride Korean cosmetics boom

Daol Private Equity has acquired Youngil Glass Industry Co., a South Korean manufacturer of glass containers, in a 65 billion won ($44.5 million) de...

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