South Korea’s top financial regulator said Thursday its temporary ban on short-selling activities of all listed Korean shares will be extended to March 2021, immediately after the current six-month restriction expires in September. The Financial Services Commission’s decision is meant to keep the stock market volatility at bay as the impact of the coronavirus still persists across the nation. The decision was made as FSC collected written agreements from its commissioners after the

Market Aug. 27, 2020

Macquarie Investment Management has named Bastiaan Jeroen van Buuren as its new chief executive to oversee its Korean operation, a filing showed Thursday. The change of leadership has been effective since Aug. 18. Van Buuren replaced Lee Kyung-soo, who served for 16 months at the top post. Joining the Australian asset management house in 2018, van Buuren was head of Asia Distribution based in Hong Kong. He joined Macquarie IM Korea’s board in June 2020. Macquarie IM acquired ING Inve

Market Aug. 27, 2020

Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management said Thursday it has raised a total of 690 billion won ($582 million) commitment to close its latest private debt fund, designed to offer nonbank loans to support mergers and acquisitions activities. Backers of the fund include its affiliates Shinhan Bank and Shinhan Life Insurance, under the umbrella of the nation’s largest Shinhan Financial Group. The Seoul-based asset management house’s new blind pool fund will extend loans to an acquirer by

Market Aug. 27, 2020

South Korea’s largest commercial lender KB Kookmin Bank said Wednesday it is now in the final stage of acquiring Indonesia-based Bank Bukopin. The Seoul-headquartered bank said its shareholders have approved its purchase of 33.1 percent of new shares in Bank Bukopin. The latest deal came after the Korean bank bought a 22 percent stake in the Indonesian firm in 2018 and an additional 11.9 percent in July. KB Kookmin said it has paid a combined 400 billion won ($337.1 million) over the pas

Market Aug. 26, 2020

South Korean hedge fund Must Asset Management is moving to divest its stake in domestic builder Taeyoung Engineering & Construction, a month after it declared an end to its shareholder engagement, according to a disclosurce Wednesday. The news comes after yearlong efforts by Must to shake up the governance structure of Taeyoung E&C, which led to spinoffs of the builder’s businesses outside the construction sector. Since July 20, Must had offloaded a 4.61 percent stake in Taeyou

Market Aug. 26, 2020

Foreign investors in two Korean companies -- Unison and Yakjin Trading -- managed to sell their stakes earlier this week, but only at significant losses, disclosures showed Tuesday. The sale price was significantly lower than what the investors -- Japanese conglomerate Toshiba and US private equity firm Carlyle Group -- had paid at least seven years before to acquire the assets. Toshiba, the largest shareholder of wind turbine maker Unison, has agreed to sell a 13.9 percent stake, or 15.5 mil

Market Aug. 25, 2020

Korean investors have partly invested in a $650 million financing package for two infrastructure projects in Asia-Pacific countries during its fiscal year from July 2019 to June 2020, International Finance Corp. said in an announcement Monday. Of the major private sector investment deals in 12 Asian countries supported by IFC, Korean entities have invested in two projects including a 216-megawatt hydroelectric plant on the Trishuli River in Kathmandu, Nepal worth $450 million. The other on

Market Aug. 25, 2020

Korean startup incubation program Seoul Fintech Lab plans to house 30 new tenant startups starting from October this year, its operator said Monday. Of the 30 new tenant enterprises, five will be non-Korean while the rest will comprise Korean companies. Eligible applicants must be dedicated to financial technologies for the Asian market and their business must not be more than 7 years old, a Seoul Fintech Lab official said. Applications will be accepted online until Sept. 11. Qualified partic

Market Aug. 24, 2020

Buyout investors at home and abroad are zeroing in on waste management companies in South Korea, as they hope to enjoy rising income over soaring demand for their services, according to market watchers on Monday. Such buyout bids, in turn, present exit opportunities to foreign capital holding majority stakes in such companies, they said. Last week, international investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts closed the acquisition of 100 percent in medical and industrial waste management f

Market Aug. 24, 2020

Amid the growing need to have a fresh approach in the already saturated shared space industry, local company FastFive is turning to small commercial building landlords to minimize initial expenditures and build a sustainable profit structure. Kim Dae-il, chief executive officer of FastFive, told The Korea Herald in a recent interview that the company is looking to forge more partnerships with landlords of small commercial buildings instead of signing long-term lease contracts with landmark bui

Market Aug. 23, 2020

Despite managing $61 billion in assets, South Korea‘s private equity industry is considered a relatively immature market, compared to global financial hubs like London, New York and Hong Kong. The segment, however, has growth potential if it is able to improve transparency by addressing issues, including a lack of standardized reporting practices and inconsistency in the portfolio valuation methodology by private equity fund managers, according to Preqin, a London-based financial data prov

Market Aug. 21, 2020

Shinhan Financial Group signed a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Neoplux, Doosan’s investment arm, for 73 billion won ($61.4 million), a filing showed Thursday. The transaction between Shinhan and the conglomerate‘s holding firm Doosan Co. is set to close by Sept. 29. As a result, Shinhan will control a 96.77 percent stake in Neoplux. The news comes a month after Shinhan was picked as the preferred bidder for the takeover in late July. Neoplux was founded in 2000, and ha

Market Aug. 20, 2020

WeWork said Thursday it would continue to push forward with its Korean business, as the local branch showed signs of resilience in its local operation despite the coronavirus fallout. According to WeWork Korea, which operates 20 shared working space locations in Seoul and Busan, its space-as-a-service platforms here logged their highest figures in monthly membership renewals and sales in July. The company also said that it saw a 7 percent increase in membership from February to July, though i

Market Aug. 20, 2020

South Korea’s signature “Growth Support Fund,” a state-backed financing program for venture firms, raised a combined 8.6 trillion won ($7.2 billion) in commitments as of July, one of the fund backers, Korea Development Bank, said Thursday. Given the higher-than-anticipated matchmaking activities for subfunds by external partners, the Growth Support Fund’s total commitments for growth equities is expected to reach the mark of 9 trillion won by this year, KDB added. This

Market Aug. 20, 2020

The Public Officials Benefit Association said Wednesday it plans to select two global asset management houses as external partners to manage its overseas fixed income portfolios. Under the plan, the state-run institutional investor, which manages funds to support public officials’ welfare, will commit a total of $350 million to the appointed two investment houses. To qualify for consideration, POBA said each prospective manager must oversee over $5 billion worth of debt instruments

Market Aug. 19, 2020