MBK Partners reaches $1.8b close for 2nd special situations fund

Private fund house MBK Partners said Wednesday it had reached a final close for its second flagship fund at $1.8 billion to invest under a “special situations” strategy. The East Asia-focused opportunistic fund, named MBK Partners SSF II, is estimated to be the largest special situations fund managed by an Asia-based investment firm since 2019, according to market intelligence service firm Preqin. Special situations refer to an investment strategy in which a fund manager bets on a

Nov. 17, 2021

Kyobo Life to complete IPO by H1 2022, hints at expanding financial services

South Korean insurer Kyobo Life Insurance plans to go public on the Korea Exchange by 2022, a process stalled due to a shareholder feud over the past few years, the company said Wednesday. The initial public offering will lay the groundwork for the company to turn into a financial group with a holding company structure to offer a wider range of financial services other than insurance, setting aside its yearslong battle against minority shareholders, according to the company. The life insurer,

Nov. 17, 2021

App store operators to face fine of up to 2% of revenue in violation of billing law

App store operators will face a fine of up to two percent for forcing developers to use their own in-app payment systems, the country's telecommunications regulator said Wednesday. Under the enforcement decree of the revised law aimed at curbing Google Inc. and other app store operators' dominance, such app store operators will have to pay one percent of their revenue for delays in reviewing apps, according to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC). In August, South Korea made amendments to

Nov. 17, 2021

Firms’ Q3 investment up 7% despite pandemic: data

South Korean companies increased their third-quarter investment by 7 percent from last year, mostly led by those in the IT and electronics sector, market data showed Wednesday.  According to an analysis by CEO Score, 336 of the country’s top 500 corporations which released their Q3 performance reports executed investments totaling 124.4 trillion won ($105 billion) from July to September.  Such figure is 8.4 trillion won higher than a year ago. By business category, IT and elec

Nov. 17, 2021

Samyang partners up with UAE retailer for Middle East expansion

Samyang Foods said Wednesday it had inked a partnership deal with United Arab Emirates retailer Sarya General Trading to accelerate Spicy Buldak Ramen sales in the Middle East. Under the 2.5 billion-won ($2.1 million) deal signed on Tuesday, Sarya will be Samyang’s exclusive distribution partner in the country. The two plan to increase export volume to 50 billion won by 2023, it said. UAE is the region’s biggest market for Samyang. Currently, some 71 percent of Korean instant no

Nov. 17, 2021

4 mobile payment platforms fined over collusion

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has decided to impose a combined fine of 16.9 billion won ($14.3 million) on four mobile payment platform operators for colluding to impose excessive fees on delinquent consumers. KG Mobilians Co., SK Planet Co., and two other firms jointly introduced fees for consumers who failed to pay prices of goods via their settlement services between 2010 and 2019, and colluded to sharply hike delay charges and maintain them, according to the Fair Trade

Nov. 17, 2021

S. Korea to burn hydrogen, ammonia at thermal power plants

The South Korean government announced Tuesday it will develop hydrogen and ammonia as feedstock for thermal power generation in order to gradually phase out the use of fossil fuels. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the government has launched a public-private council to lead the research, with an aim of introducing hydrogen and ammonia in the fuel mix as early as 2030. The ministry’s plan envisions more than half of South Korea’s coal-fired thermal power plant

Nov. 17, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on tech, auto losses

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, largely by losses in tech, auto stocks. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 9.95 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,987.26 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics edged down 0.14 percent, No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix lost 0.45 percent, and pharmaceutical giant Samsung Biologics retreated 0.92 percent. Hyundai Motor, the country's largest carmaker, moved down 0.73 percent, with its smaller affi

Nov. 17, 2021

GS Energy to bring in annual 200,000 tons of blue ammonia from UAE

GS Energy Corp., an energy unit of South Korean conglomerate GS Group, has secured a deal to annually bring in about 200,000 tons of blue ammonia from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 2025, according to the company. GS Energy announced Tuesday it has joined a project led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) to build a production facility to co-develop the clean energy compound in a city west of Abu Dhabi. GS Energy will hold a 10 percent stake in the project. Further details on the terms o

Nov. 17, 2021

S. Korea to focus on stabilizing housing market: minister

South Korea plans to pump up its efforts to stabilize the housing market as surging home prices and speculative demand have showed signs of easing, the country's top economic policymaker said Wednesday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the growth of housing prices and demand for home buying have slowed since September in the latest sign that people's expectations for further price gains might have changed. "As market anxiety that has driven housing price gains appears to significantly ch

Nov. 17, 2021

Large firms' capital spending gains over 7% despite pandemic

South Korea's large companies increased their investments by more than 7 percent in the first nine months of this year as part of efforts to find future growth engines despite the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. Combined capital spending by 336 out of the country's top 500 businesses came to 124.4 trillion won ($105 billion) in the January-September period, up 7.3 percent from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. Firms in information and technology, electric and el

Nov. 17, 2021

'Drone taxi’ race heats up as Korean Air, Lotte announce new urban air mobility projects

The race to commercialize urban air mobility services is heating up as national flag carrier Korean Air and retail giant Lotte on Tuesday announced new projects to help introduce drone airport shuttles. Korean Air said it has signed an agreement with Hyundai Motor, Incheon International Airport Corp., KT and Hyundai E&C to help build UAM infrastructure and improve social acceptance toward the new means of public transport. The airline will share its experience of operating passenger and ca

Nov. 17, 2021

Top comedian Yu Jae-seok joins Kakao Entertainment’s capital increase

Korea’s top comedian Yoo Jae-suk became a shareholder of Kakao Entertainment, the agency said Tuesday. “Yoo Jae-suk participated in the agency’s most recent capital increase, largely to strengthen his trust-based partnership with Yu Hee-yeol,” a Kakao Entertainment official said. Yu, CEO of K-pop agency Antenna, had invested 7 billion won ($5.9 million) in Kakao Entertainment after selling all the shares of his own company. Yu currently holds 0.07 percent of Kakao Ente

Nov. 16, 2021

S. Korea to burn hydrogen, ammonia at thermal power plants

The South Korean government announced Tuesday it will develop hydrogen and ammonia as feedstock for thermal power generation in order to gradually phase out the use of fossil fuels. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the government has launched a public-private council to lead the research, with an aim of introducing hydrogen and ammonia in the fuel mix as early as 2030. The ministry’s plan envisions more than half of South Korea’s coal-fired thermal power pl

Nov. 16, 2021

Pandemic gives rise to new outdoor tennis, golf facilities: data

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor sports facilities and counseling centers have enjoyed a business boom, while internet cafes and karaoke rooms struggled, fresh data shows.  According to Shinhan Card’s Big Data Lab on Tuesday, which analyzed new business openings in the January-September period in 2020 and 2021, tennis courts and outdoor golf courses saw a jump of 174 percent and 131 percent, respectively, during the nine-month period.  Golf has enjoyed expl

Nov. 16, 2021

Samsung narrows down list of candidates for $17b chip plant in US

Samsung Electronics Co. appears to be moving closer to making a final decision on the site for its new chip fabrication plant in the United States, as global semiconductor companies have engaged in increasingly fierce competition amid a global chip crunch. The South Korean tech giant was found to have withdrawn its application filed in January with Manor Independent School District (ISD) in Travis County, Texas, for corporate tax incentives regarding its new chip plant, the Texas comptroller's

Nov. 16, 2021

[Herald Interview] CrucialTec taps EV market with eco-friendly painting tech

CrucialTec, once famed for its optical trackpad for BlackBerry, is venturing into the sizzling electric vehicle market, with a no-contact painting technology. Called the “Vacuum Steam Solution (VSS)” transfer technology, the Pangyo-based firm’s new expertise is about painting the surface of electric devices like smartphone cases, home appliances, as well as the interior and exterior materials of automobiles. By applying heat and pressure to ink-coated films in a manner that

Nov. 16, 2021

Seoul stocks edge down after US-China talks

South Korean stocks inched down Tuesday as investors digest the results of video talks between the presidents of the United States and China. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 2.31 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 2,997.21 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 567 million shares worth some 10.5 trillion won ($8.9 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 547 to 304. Foreigners bought a net 241 billion won, wh

Nov. 16, 2021

[Hydrogen Korea] Korea Gas Corp. aims to lead the hydrogen way

Korea Gas Corp. was born in the aftermath of the global oil crises of the 1970s, with a mission to lead a fuel transition to natural gas. Nearly four decades later, the company is being asked to step up, as South Korea plans another grand energy transition to hydrogen. “In the aftermath of the global oil crisis, Korea decided to switch its national fuel to natural gas and formed Kogas (in 1983). Since then, Kogas led the natural gas transition and experienced every step along the way,&

Nov. 16, 2021

SK in final talks for investment in US gene therapy firm

SK Inc., the holding company of South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate SK Group, said Tuesday it is in the final talks to invest in a US gene therapy company, in its latest move to expand its foothold in global biopharmaceuticals.  SK said it plans to sign a formal deal soon with the Center for Breakthrough Medicines (CBM), a Philadelphia-based contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO), before the end of this year. Details on the terms of the investment were not available. With

Nov. 16, 2021