The transfer of assets associated with scandal-ridden Seoul-based hedge fund manager Lime Asset Management began Thursday as South Korea’s financial regulator scrapped its license to operate in Korea the day before. In a long-awaited move, the bridge institution WellBridge Asset Management is expected to take over all 215 Lime funds to speed up the process of minimizing losses of the assets – most of which are believed to be nearly insolvent -- a key move to mitigate the financial d

Market Dec. 3, 2020

Korea Investment & Securities board agreed to pay 142 billion won ($128.9 million) to its wholly owned subsidiary Korea Investment Value Asset Management, as Kakao Bank moves on to raise nearly a combined 1 trillion won by year-end before an initial public offering poised to take place next year, filings showed Wednesday. KIVAM is currently the second-largest shareholder of Kakao Bank after internet giant Kakao. KIVAM‘s proceeds will be used to buy 6 million newly issued common shar

Market Dec. 2, 2020

Korean Air Lines is inching closer to selling its yacht marina operation in Incheon to a new Korean buyer for roughly 130 billion won ($117 million). The investor group of Consus Asset Management and Mirae Asset Daewoo said Monday it has signed a memorandum of understanding as a preferred bidder to buy 100 percent stake in Wangsan Leisure Development, operator of Wangsan Marina, which is wholly controlled by the nation’s No. 1 flag carrier.　 Wangsan Marina was built in 2016. Part of the

Market Nov. 30, 2020

South Korean securities brokerage firm Mirae Asset Daewoo is expanding its global footprint as it revs up localization efforts, while its overseas business operations are setting new highs in terms of net income despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Mirae Asset Daewoo operates 11 foreign corporations and three offices, according to its latest financial statement. In the first three quarters of 2020, Mirae Asset Daewoo logged a combined 174.1 billion won ($157.4 million) net profit before taxes, top

Market Nov. 29, 2020

The recent spate of records in South Korea’s stock market on hopes of a global coronavirus containment has brought the market capitalization of the 10 largest business groups’ listed affiliates to fresh highs, data showed Wednesday. As of Monday, the market cap of all 102 listed affiliates of the 10 largest business groups came to 1,069 trillion won ($964.3 billion), topping 1,000 trillion won for the first time in history, according to data from financial market tracker FnGuide.

Market Nov. 25, 2020

South Korea’s real estate investment trust, indirectly controlled by Hong Kong-listed real estate platform ESR, said Monday that it is gearing up for an initial public offering that will raise 357.3 billion won ($321.3 million) before a listing on the main stock bourse, Kospi, to attract retail investors to its industrial portfolio. The new REIT, dubbed ESR Kendall Square REIT, will become the first listed REIT dedicated to logistics properties in Korea if the IPO goes ahead as planned l

Market Nov. 23, 2020

Controversy escalated Sunday over the proposed business integration plan of South Korea’s two flag carriers -- Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines -- as to whether the fundraising plan of Korean Air’s parent company Hanjin KAL to achieve the tie-up is legally viable. State-run lender and creditor Korea Development Bank has addressed concerns over the possibility of an injunction court order that might kill its plan of providing 800 billion won ($716 million) to Hanjin KAL in retur

Market Nov. 22, 2020

Top officials of the state-run lender Korea Development Bank said Thursday that the proposed merger of South Korea’s two flag carriers, Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines -- largely orchestrated by the creditor of the two -- may be scrapped if the court grants an injunction grinding the blockbuster deal to a halt. If the injunction is granted, the state lender has no choice but to go back to square one and pursue a plan that could cost it 5.4 trillion won ($4.8 billion) by 2027 to keep

Market Nov. 19, 2020

South Korea’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, is looking to invite a wider range of retail investors to get access to shares offered when a company goes public on the Korean stock market. The key to the new measure is encouraging Korean underwriters of the initial public offering -- eligible for securities brokerage firms -- to allocate at least 10 percent of stocks potentially to any retail participant, regardless of how many bids retail investors place when subsc

Market Nov. 19, 2020

South Korea’s mobile-only commercial lender Kakao Bank said Tuesday that it plans to raise 250 billion won ($226 million) from Hong Kong-based private equity firm Anchor Equity Partners. Under the plan approved by the board the same day, Anchor Equity Partners will complete the payment by Dec. 7 to buy 1 million new ordinary shares of Kakao Bank, as the lender plans to fetch a combined 1 trillion won by year-end before its initial public offering next year. Kakao Bank also said US inves

Market Nov. 17, 2020

South Korea’s private equity fund backed by fried chicken franchise Pelicana Chicken is on the verge of closing a 20 billion won ($18.1 million) acquisition deal to become the biggest shareholder of MP Group, which owns pizza restaurant franchise Mr. Pizza and coffee chain Manoffin, a filing showed Tuesday. The deal will reach a final close once MP Group gets the green light to resume trading on the Korea Exchange’s development bourse Kosdaq in a decision affecting some 10,000 smal

Market Nov. 17, 2020

South Korea’s two flag carriers Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines are anticipating a tie-up, as the nation’s policy lender Korea Development Bank vowed to finance the 1.8 trillion won ($1.62 billion) megadeal. Announcing a plan to help Korean Air Lines acquire a majority stake in its longtime rival, KDB said Monday that the merger is indispensable in keeping the nation’s struggling aviation industry afloat. “The new integrated Korean flag carrier will rise to one of

Market Nov. 16, 2020

Despite the pandemic increasing the risk of doing so, institutional investors in South Korea said they would venture into unfamiliar nonbank financing bets, such as private debt funds. Representatives of Korean investors said last week at PDI Seoul Forum Virtual Experience 2020 that they are developing an eye for suitable external partners dedicated to private debt fund management, as this particular asset class has become a more reliable source of income than traditional assets like stocks, wh

Market Nov. 15, 2020

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Kim Sang-gon will take the top post of the Korea Teachers’ Credit Union, the institution said Wednesday. Effective Thursday, Kim will serve as chairman of the KTCU, the state-sponsored credit union dedicated to Korean teachers’ financial welfare and benefits. Kim was selected as the final candidate to head the KTCU on Friday and subsequently gained the approval of Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae. Kim will serve his three-year term

Market Nov. 11, 2020

The Financial Supervisory Service said Wednesday that Optimus Asset Management, a local hedge fund house involved in an alleged fraud case, has incurred at least 436.3 billion won ($393 million) in financial losses that effectively went nowhere. The loss stems from the hedge fund manager’s botched real estate development project financing and failed investments in stocks and bonds, as well as its embezzlement and Ponzi scheme, according to the watchdog. The revelation comes as four month

Market Nov. 11, 2020