South Korea’s public pension fund, the National Pension Service, is now gearing up for new committees to ramp up the shareholder engagement push for its portfolio firms here at an unprecedented level. But time appears to be running short ahead of the March proxy season in Korea. The NPS’ Fund Management Committee has to start from scratch to forge a fully fledged decision-making system to shortlist companies under what is equivalent to a “focus list” by the California P

Market Feb. 5, 2020

Seoul-based private equity house Hahn & Co. agreed to buy SK Chemicals’ biofuel operation for 382.5 billion won ($322.2 million) in cash on Wednesday. The proposed acquisition of South Korea’s No. 1 biodiesel producer marks the first deal to be announced since Hahn & Co. closed a new Korea-focused fund worth $3.2 billion in October last year, a Hahn & Co. official said. As of end-2018, SK Chemicals took up one-third of market share here by biodiesel production. This c

Market Feb. 5, 2020

South Korea’s state-led fund of funds manager Korea Growth Investment (K-Growth) said Wednesday it plans to earmark a combined 5.4 trillion won ($4.5 billion) risk capital to spur venture investments across the nation in 2020. The company said it aims to raise at least 1 trillion won for its portfolio, adding to the 1.6 trillion won from its flagship fund of funds. The majority of the funds worth 3.3 trillion won will be used to nurture startups for later-stage funding rounds, K-Growth

Market Feb. 5, 2020

Ahead of Danaher’s acquisition of General Electric’s biopharmaceutical unit for $21.4 billion, South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday ordered either of the two firms to divest certain assets in its conditional approval. The latest decision, according to the antitrust watchdog, is meant to thwart monopoly in Korea’s bioprocessing market. The order forces either Danaher or GE’s biopharma unit to sell off the entire eight bioprocessing product assets in Kore

Market Feb. 4, 2020

H2O Hospitality, a Korean startup dedicated to vacation rental management in Japan, said Tuesday it has raised $7 million funding from five investors to meet its fast-growing working capital needs on the back of strong growth. Joining the latest round were Samsung Venture Investment, Stonebridge Ventures, IMM Investment, Shinhan Capital and Wonik Investment Partners. The round brought H2O’s total funding to $18 million. The valuation of the firm has jumped threefold since the previous

Market Feb. 4, 2020

Seven South Korean firms are looking to raise as much as a combined 247 billion won ($206.6 million) through initial public offerings in February, but market watchers are wary as the local stock market grapples with the Wuhan coronavirus scare. While the number of infections in Korea grew to 15 as of Sunday, from just three a week prior, the Korea Exchange’s main bourse, Kospi, dipped 5.7 percent and its development board, Kosdaq, sank 6.3 percent. The companies may have weaker incentive

Market Feb. 3, 2020

Shinhan Financial Group’s plans to merge Orange Life Insurance with its wholly owned life insurance unit seemed to have been working out smoothly. However, trouble persists as minority shareholders continue to demand an increase in their dividend payouts. Small shareholders of Orange began making the demand after teaming up with civic activist group the Korea Stockholders Alliance in November, but Shinhan refuses, saying it would constitute a breach of trust with its other shareholders.

Market Jan. 31, 2020

Big Hit Entertainment, the agency behind K-pop sensation BTS, is seeking an underwriter in the initial step to go public, according to news reports Friday. Big Hit has sent a request for proposal to multiple securities brokerage firms to underwrite its initial public offering, an investment banking source was quoted as saying by local news outlet the Bell. The news report did not clarify which stock market in Korea that Big Hit would choose to be listed. An underwriter is responsible for offer

Market Jan. 31, 2020

Annie Jeong has always been concerned about her 3-year-old son’s exposure to digital devices. She became more worried recently after learning about the rise of screen-free parenting. But such a scheme is a tall order, she said. With digital-driven education permeating classrooms across South Korea, the use of digital devices and software has become a necessity for the future generation. “I’m worried that my kid might be in trouble in the future if he grows up tech-free,&rd

Culture Jan. 30, 2020

The industrial outlook for 2020 is negative for eight of South Korea’s 11 major industries, in part due to the slowing global economy, according to credit rating agency Korea Investors Service on Thursday. Sectors that fell into the “negative industrial outlook” category were construction, steel, distribution, automotive, transportation, petrochemicals, life insurance and non-life insurance. The outlook for refiners, shipbuilders and securities rated neutral, according to t

Economy Jan. 30, 2020

Korea’s state-backed fund seeking a commitment of 1.5 trillion won ($1.27 billion) is looking to raise 900 billion won in private money, its lead fund manager Samsung Asset Management said Tuesday. The fund has a maturity of 30 years and is set to close all transactions by October 2024. The fund is designed to target overseas infrastructure assets, ranging from new and renewable energy plants, oil and gas plants, airports and roads to railways and smart city infrastructure. Managing th

Market Jan. 28, 2020

AlpenRoute Asset Management said Tuesday it may opt to suspend investor withdrawal of assets worth 181.7 billion won ($154.4 million) from its 26 open-ended funds by February to ward off illiquidity, as the distrust of hedge fund managers across South Korea has triggered abrupt money withdrawal attempts. Of its 226.4 billion won assets in open-ended funds -- designed to allow investors to withdraw at will -- that mainly target equities in privately held companies, AlpenRoute has decided to defe

Market Jan. 28, 2020

Although concerns over the possible impact of the deadly coronavirus on the financial market are rising here, analysts say that the “noise” caused by the contagious virus originating from China will be short-lived and eventually overshadowed by company fundamentals that remain strong, coupled with the easing trade conflict between China and the United States. “The spread of coronavirus will not likely cause an unprecedented pandemonium but merely an uncanny noise to investors,

Market Jan. 27, 2020

A revision of local financial laws is opening the doors for a higher level of shareholder engagement, empowering the role of pension funds in South Korea, including the world’s third-largest National Pension Service. In forthcoming shareholder meetings slated for March, the NPS is likely to hold sway over those listed on what is equivalent to a “focus list” by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, out of more than 300 portfolio companies trading on the domes

Market Jan. 22, 2020

Lingering uncertainties due to cyclical risk across emerging markets in Asia are leaving long-term prospects for South Korea’s equity market unclear, despite its recent buoyance in the technology sector, an analyst at global asset management firm AllianceBernstein said Tuesday. “The technology-led revival in earnings will benefit Kospi earnings-per-share growth in 2020, but there is cyclicality to those earnings, so the outlook for 2021 remains unclear,” David Wong, senior inve

Market Jan. 21, 2020