Amid the climate change response actions underway in South Korea, the nation’s state-run companies dedicated to fossil fuel energy resources are barely hanging on. The Korea Resources Corp., or Kores, merged into the newly established Mine Reclamation Corp., called Mireco, under new rules that took effect Friday. The birth of Mireco was foretold in 2018, when a task force within the Energy Ministry recommended that the debt-saddled Kores be restructured. Kores, considered a major culpri

Economy Sept. 12, 2021

The average rent for semibasement apartments in Seoul on two-year “jeonse” leases topped a record 100 million won ($85,900) this year, suggesting low-income households in the city are facing heavier financial burdens, data showed Wednesday. Jeonse, a two-year housing lease that requires a lump sum deposit, for semibasement apartments measuring 60 square meters or smaller in the capital city came in at an average of 104.4 million won as of end-August, according to the Land Ministry d

Economy Sept. 8, 2021

Kyobo Life Insurance and its minority shareholders both argued Monday that they had won an arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce over a drawn out dispute surrounding shares Kyobo Life Chairman Shin Chang-jae has to buy back from investors. The binding resolution indicated that the strike price for the put option -- forcing Shin to buy back the minority shareholders’ combined 24 percent stake in Kyobo Life at 409,000 won ($353.4) apiece -- is invalid, but the contract still

Market Sept. 6, 2021

Hyundai Capital Services Vice Chairman Chung Tae-young is poised to offer his resignation from the company’s top post later this month, the company said Monday. Chung will step down as chief executive officer and executive board member of the auto financing firm on Aug. 30, 18 years after he was promoted to the position in 2003. The brother-in-law of Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun was set to serve a three-year term as Hyundai Capital chief ending in 2024. Vice Chairman Chun

Market Sept. 6, 2021

Samsung Asset Management said Monday it has launched a dollar-denominated equity index fund that tracks the United States‘ broad-based S&P 500 constituents. This marked the first dollar-denominated stock index fund in Korea’s asset management industry, which allows dollar holders in South Korea to indirectly invest in popular foreign stocks in the US, the company said. The S&P 500 comprises of 505 constituents as of July, including technology stocks Apple, Microsoft, Amazo

Market Sept. 6, 2021

Scandal-ridden Namyang Dairy Products Chairman Hong Won-sik said Wednesday he and other shareholders scrapped a stake sales and purchase deal with Seoul-based private equity firm Hahn & Co., citing unfulfilled requests from their end. Hong added that the shareholders are considering holding Hahn & Co. legally accountable for the collapse of the 310.7 billion won ($270.2 million) deal. “I regret to say that our plan to normalize Namyang Dairy’s business did not bear fruit,

Market Sept. 1, 2021

South Korea‘s mobile payment app operator Kakao Pay has revised down its target offer price range for the initial public offering of its stocks as its plan to go public underwent a two-month delay, a prospectus showed Tuesday. The decision will reduce the IPO size of the Ant Group-backed financial arm of internet giant Kakao, by up to some 100 billion won ($86.3 million). Under the new plan to float 17 million common shares, each share will be priced at the suggested target price range

Market Aug. 31, 2021

New York-based private equity firm Blackstone is attempting to cash in on its holdings in Simone Acc Collection for up to 320.7 billion won ($275.3 million) in a partial exit involving an initial public offering, a prospectus showed Tuesday. The IPO of luxury handbag maker Simone, which could fetch up to 400.9 billion won before its proposed October listing on the Korea Exchange‘s main board Kospi, will allow the world’s largest private equity investor to carry out an immediate exi

Market Aug. 31, 2021

Seoul-based buyout firm Hahn & Co. has filed a lawsuit against Namyang Dairy Products shareholders for failing to abide by a binding contract to sell their controlling shares to them, the nation’s second-largest private equity fund said Monday. The lawsuit, submitted to the Seoul Central District Court on Aug. 23, is meant to urge shareholders, including Namyang Dairy Chairman Hong Won-sik, to implement the sales deal signed on May 27 as planned, Hahn & Co. said in a statement.

Market Aug. 30, 2021

A court ruling that nullified a penalty for Woori Financial Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sohn Tae-seung signals clemency for other chiefs of banks and other financial institutions who have been blamed for their role in a series of private fund misselling scandals, industry sources said Monday. The ruling by the Seoul Administrative Court Friday was in favor of Sohn, rescinding a “reprimand” warning on the banking group chiefs by the Financial Supervisory Service. The

Market Aug. 30, 2021

South Korea on Friday saw its first public real estate investment trust debut on the domestic stock market this year, with more debutants headed for the listing soon. D&D Platform REIT, which holds office and industrial portfolios at home and abroad, started trading on the Korea Exchange‘s main board Kospi Friday. A REIT refers to a vehicle designed to offer dividend returns to its investors through investments in securitized real estate assets. The nation’s first multisector

Market Aug. 27, 2021

South Korean banking giant KB Financial Group is ramping up its push to venture into the Indonesian financial industry, as its securities brokerage arm awaits a regulatory approval to set foot in the largest economy in Southeast Asia. KB Securities, a Seoul-based investment bank and brokerage house, said Friday it is poised to inject some 50 billion won ($42.8 million) in capital to become a new shareholder of an undisclosed midsized Indonesian firm dedicated to securities underwriting and bro

Market Aug. 27, 2021

The exit strategies of global private equity firms in South Korea indicate that Asia‘s fourth-largest economy is becoming a new proving ground for capital allocation in the Asia-Pacific region, according to market watchers on Thursday. The latest to do so was Bain Capital Private Equity, which inked a 1.7 trillion-won ($1.4 billion) deal to exit from listed botulinum toxin maker Hugel. Bain Capital Private Equity on Wednesday agreed to sell its 5.4 million shares and some 800,000 convert

Market Aug. 26, 2021

The National Pension Service had a reserve fund of 908.3 trillion won ($777.7 billion) as of end-June, logging a 7.49 percent financial gain over the past six months, a preliminary estimate showed Wednesday. The world‘s third-largest pension fund has generated 74.5 trillion won in investment returns from January to June, as its stock holdings at home and abroad outperformed their benchmarks. This beat the earlier projection in 2020 where the NPS assets under management will stand at ju

Market Aug. 25, 2021

Hanwha Asset Management said Wednesday it has bought shares in Hanwha Group’s brokerage arm, Hanwha Investment & Securities, from other nonfinancial group affiliates. The asset management firm acquired a combined 56.8 million common shares -- or a 26.46 percent stake -- in the brokerage house for 320.1 billion won ($274 million). Their sellers were auto parts maker Hanwha Global Asset, leisure service provider Hanwha Hotels & Resorts and department store operator Hanwha Galleria T

Market Aug. 25, 2021