South Korea’s activist private equity fund Korea Corporate Governance Improvement on Friday vowed to restore Hanjin Group “back on track,” signaling its push for activism despite the Friday defeat. “We could feel the shareholders' desire to change Hanjin KAL’s management by the owner family,” the coalition led by KCGI wrote in a letter to shareholders. “The most crucial is for Hanjin Group to make a breakthrough, and we believe that the only solut

Market March 27, 2020

Seoul-based Thelma Therapeutics said Friday it has closed a deal to buy 27 percent stake in Russian liver cancer therapy developer for 24.3 billion won ($20 million), to tap the overseas health care market. The stake was of NBT, a parent company that wholly owns radioembolization therapy device developer Bebig, both located in the Dubna Special Economic Zone on the northern outskirts of Moscow. Bebig is known for selling the therapy device called Microsphere, used to cure liver cancer -- a the

Market March 27, 2020

South Korea’s brokerage houses suffering from recent losses on risky structured products that placed bets on foreign stock indexes are expected to get some relief after the government allocated a larger-than-expected slice of its stimulus package to the sector.  Reporting on the results of a meeting presided by Moon Jae-in on Tuesday, the Financial Services Commission said authorities would inject 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion) to help securities firms deal with the stress, as part o

Market March 25, 2020

Facing a weakening local currency amid the escalating novel coronavirus crisis, companies are hedging their cross-border investment plans, including mergers and acquisitions, filings showed Tuesday. The deals denominated in foreign currency are facing increasing exchange rate pressure. as some of the investment decisions were made before the coronavirus outbreak. Over the past three weeks, South Korea’s local currency has weakened 4.6 percent against the greenback and fell 2.4 percent a

Market March 24, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing market volatility are disrupting listing plans of South Korean firms that could otherwise have raised at least 289.5 billion won ($227.8 million), filings showed Monday. Seven companies have withdrawn or put off their initial public offerings in March. They include stem cell therapy developer SCM Life Science, telemarketing service provider Metanet Mplatform, electric vehicle parts maker LS EV Korea, diabetes treatment developer NovMetaPharma and construct

Market March 23, 2020

South Korean companies are bracing for a possible liquidity crisis in the bond market next month, amid sagging investor sentiment and signs of capital flight due to the coronavirus pandemic, market data showed Sunday. The illiquidity -- triggered by continuously escalating novel coronavirus fears -- will pose a hurdle to companies when they attract new capital or carry out a refinancing scheme. A combined 6.5 trillion won ($5.2 billion) in corporate bonds is due to reach maturity in April, ac

Market March 22, 2020

Foreign brokerages operating in South Korea have reported a drastic fall in their earnings in 2019, with their commission income falling sharply as domestic rivals chewed on their market share. The five securities arms of foreign investment banks -- Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Deutsche, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. and UBS -- disclosed that they saw over a 30 percent drop in their annual earnings, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association. The latest was France-based C

Market March 22, 2020

An investor group led by South Korean pulp product manufacturer Hankuk Paper agreed to buy a majority stake in Korea’s third-largest domestic industrial paper maker, Seha, for 55 billion won ($44.2 million) from Korean nonperforming loan manager United Asset Management Co., a filing showed Sunday. This marks the private bad bank’s first exit from a distressed buyout strategy that traces back to 2014. The consortium -- comprising Hankuk Paper and Daesung Industrial -- will acquire

Market March 22, 2020

The National Pension Service, South Korea’s public pension fund, said Thursday it would disapprove of the chiefs of Shinhan Financial Group, Woori Financial Group and Hyosung as board directors in their respective shareholders meetings in March. The decisions came as the pension fund overseeing 736.7 trillion won ($576.7 billion) has moved to ramp up shareholder activism and exercise its voting power to keep large corporations in check as a minority shareholder. The NPS’ nine-membe

Market March 19, 2020

South Korea’s financial regulator said Thursday that 69 domestic companies have sought audit relief due to shortcomings in their reports for 2019, as the novel coronavirus has undermined their key operations, especially in China. Over two-thirds of companies that have applied for regulatory relief have a presence in China, and determined their filings cannot be completed by March 30, according to the Financial Services Commission. They include tobacco product maker KT&G, light bulb ma

Market March 19, 2020

Coronavirus fears in the financial market are quashing bond investors’ appetite for investment-grade bonds issued by South Korean companies, dragging on their plans to raise capital. From Friday to Wednesday, all corporate bonds of three companies were undersubscribed in the respective institutional tranches in Korea. This stems from the bond price hike along with monetary easing stance at home and abroad. Bond yields, which move inversely with bond prices, were on a downtrend in Kore

Market March 18, 2020

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews and analysis over looming threats of COVID-19 on the Korean economy and beyond. This is the first installment. -- Ed. Despite a series of emergency actions being taken by governments around the world, the novel coronavirus -- and its resulting disease COVID-19 -- is wielding sweeping power over the global financial market and the real economy, indicating rising global recession risks. The Bank of Korea cut its policy rate Monday to a recor

Economy March 17, 2020

South Korea introduced a law in February to support a new form of activism by “general” equity investors, enabling minority shareholders to have a say in corporate decisions. The revision of the Capital Markets Act has offered investors legal clarity in their move to boost shareholder value and adhere to stewardship codes. So far, four foreign investors have declared they are “general” investors in eight listed companies,” so that they can be more actively engage

Market March 16, 2020

The owners of the Seoul Book Center -- operator of South Korea’s third-largest bookstore chain, Bandi & Luni’s -- are looking to put their stake in the company up for sale through deal manager eBest Investment & Securities, the brokerage house said Monday. Founded in 1988, the Seoul Book Center operates 10 bookstores and stationery stores across the country, as well as an online bookstore. The deal is meant to give its owners, including CEO Kim Dong-kook and his father, Ki

Market March 16, 2020

South Korea was the first country in East Asia to introduce a legal definition for impact investment under the Promotion of Social Enterprises Act in 2007, which paved the way for a mature ecosystem. Impact investments aim to generate specific beneficial social or environmental effects in addition to financial gains -- actively seeking to make a positive impact, for example, by investing in nonprofits that benefit the community or in clean-technology enterprises that benefit the environment.

Market March 15, 2020