[THE INVESTOR] Bobath Memorial Hospital, one of South Korea’s leading rehabilitation hospitals, has been put up for sale as a way to end its court-led restructuring program started last year. Suwon District Court kicked off the disposal process by hiring EY Han Young, a top accounting firm, as a sales adviser for the hospital owned by Neul Proon Medical Foundation, according to a source on Aug. 16.  Bobath Memorial Hospital, located in Gyeonggi Province.The deal could be worth some 100 billion w

[THE INVESTOR] Hong Kong-based private equity firm Excelsior Capital Asia has joined the bid to acquire PCA Life Insurance, a Korean unit of UK financial group Prudential, sources said on Aug. 16. Excelsior Capital, which has raised and managed some US$1 billion to run five funds since it was established in 1998, submitted the letter of intent on bidding participation to Goldman Sachs, the lead manager of the deal, on Aug. 15.  PCA Life KoreaPCA Life Insurance’s book value stands at around 200 b

[THE INVESTOR] Casamia has dropped its plans for an initial public offering as it failed to drum up interest from investors. The Korean furniture maker and decor studio filed for withdrawal of the IPO on Aug. 12 with the agreement of its lead underwriter Hanwha Investment & Securities. The setback came as institutional investors showed low demand during a book building process.  A Casamia store at COEX, SeoulCasamia said it would postpone its market debut until the overall market condition impro

[THE INVESTOR] Unionized workers at Oriental Brewery, the South Korean unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev, have decided to expand their strike as wage negotiations with the management fell through, the company’s labor union said Aug. 12. From Aug. 13, office workers of Oriental Brewery, known for its flagship OB beer, will join the protest which has been led by production line workers at the company’s factories in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province and Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province from July.  OB's flag

NCsoft posted operating profit of KRW86.1bn (+14% QoQ) for 2Q16, exceeding the market consensus of KRW72.9bn. Key positives included: 1) continued solid earnings from Lineage 1 and Blade & Soul (B&S); and 2) improvement in operating margin to 35.8% (+4.4ppt QoQ), with labor costs and marketing expenses down versus 1Q16. NCsoft's legendary MMORPG Lineage. NCsoftIn 3Q16, we expect operating profit to fall to KRW76bn (-12% QoQ) from the absence of new game releases and drop in the size of promotion

[THE INVESTOR] Beleaguered Hanjin Shipping is considering the sale of a container terminal in Long Beach in the US, one of its core assets, as the container carrier’s quarterly loss is expected to further worsen its already worrying liquidity crunch. People familiar with the matter said Hanjin Shipping could raise around 100 billion won (US$90.70 million) by selling its stake in Total Terminals International at the Port of Long Beach, California, which has a capacity of more than 3 million TEUs

[THE INVESTOR] LS Cable & System Asia will float its shares on South Korea’s main bourse KOSPI in September, the company said on Aug. 12.The holding firm of LS C&S’ Vietnamese operations was set up in 2015 by South Korea’s leading cable manufacturer in a push to list its two affiliated companies in Vietnam. The two Vietnamese units -- LS-VINA and LSCV -- are the largest power cable makers in Vietnam with a combined market share exceeding 30 percent.The holding company’s initial public offering w

[THE INVESTOR] The sale of local home appliance vendor Tongyang Magic, a deal estimated at some 500 billion won (US$448 million), has drawn offers from as many as 10 preliminary bidders, with private equity firms showing particular interest. Those who submitted letters of intent by the Aug. 11 deadline included local private equity firms IMM PE and Stic Investment along with global PEFs Carlyle Group, TPG Capital, Bain Capital and CVC Capital. Local food conglomerate CJ Group, SK Networks, Unid,

Negative rating trend to continue for the rest of 2016. The share of ratings with negative implications 1 for Asia Pacific non-financial corporates stayed high at 35% at end-2Q 2016, up slightly from the 34% registered at end-1Q 2016. The share of ratings with stable outlooks — at 60% — represented the lowest proportion over the last 10 quarters since 1Q 2014. The share of ratings with stable outlooks for Asian and Japanese corporates was similar and that for Australian issuers was relatively be

[THE INVESTOR] Disappointed by Com2us’ quarterly earning, a local brokerage firm has revised down the target price of its stock. The mobile and online game developer missed analysts expectations by a wide gap as it reported 126.6 billion won (US$115 million) in sales and 48.6 billion won in operating profit in the second quarter.  Com2us' latest baseball-playing game "Com2us Pro Baseball"“Its operating profit lagged far behind Bloomberg’s consensus which expected 54.9 billion won,” Jung Yong-jae

[THE INVESTOR] Korea M&A Exchange said on Aug. 11 that it would raise capital worth 1.78 billion won (US$1.62 million) by issuing 3.58 million new shares. M&A matchmaking platform aims to post 2 billion won in revenue and make more than 10 tie-ups this year. (theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s large institutional investors plan to buy more nonperforming loans in a bid to find investment opportunities from European banks that need to offload loans to meet new regulatory requirements, according to source on Aug. 11. The National Pension Service, Korea Investment Corporation and Lotte Insurance are expected to allocate over 400 billion won (US$363 million) in a distressed real estate fund by Cerberus Capital Management. Among the three, the nation’s pension f

 [THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s national pension fund, the world’s third-largest with assets of more than 520 trillion won (US$446 billion), expanded its equity holdings of the next “big thing” -- augmented reality and artificial intelligence -- last year, data showed on Aug. 11. The National Pension Service scooped up its share in foreign companies developing the next-generation technology and gadgets such as Ninetndo and Google last year, according to data released by the fund. In a bid to bolst

[THE INVESTOR] Samhwa Paints Industrial, South Korea’s leading paint manufacturer, has set up its second Vietnam unit in a move to boost its presence in Southeast Asian market. According to the company’s regulatory filing on Aug. 10, Samhwa Paints established a wholly-owned subsidiary Samhwa-Vh in Ho Chi Minh, following the first Vietnam operation which opened in 2010 in HanoiThe newly launched unit will focus on manufacturing paint products for home appliance such as refrigerator.Samhwa Paints’

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s top financial regulator reaffirmed the government’s commitment to privatize state-run Woori Bank but only when a sufficient number of potential bidders are secured. “The successful sale of Woori Bank depends on market demand,” said Yim Jong-yong, chairman of Financial Services Commission on Aug. 10.  FSC chief Yim Jong-yongThe government’s attempts to sell a controlling stake in Woori Bank collapsed four times between 2010 and 2014 after a combination of stringent re

2Q16 standalone operating profit of W33.8bn (+29.8% YoY) misses expectationsHyundai Home Shopping Network posted 2Q16 operating profit of W33.8bn, falling short of our estimate (W36.5bn) and the consensus (W35.1bn). Gross profit went up 8.2% YoY. Gross sales of the TV channel grew 7.5% YoY, the highest in the sector.Profits were weak due to one-off costs and conservative accounting treatment. Costs increased by about W2bn with events celebrating the company’s 15th anniversary. Transmission fees

On Aug 8, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) upgraded Korea’s sovereign credit rating by one notch from AA- to AA.We believe that this credit rating upgrade will positively impact the domestic bond market over the mid- to long run as it should help sustain foreign capital inflows and make it easier for Korea to adjust its monetary policy. Over the near term, however, due to the price burden, the bond market should remain range bound before gradually regaining strength. ▶Overview of credit rating upgradeS&P

[THE INVESTOR] Mergers and acquisitions in South Korea picked up this year, spurred by restructuring of industries and the government’s move to ease regulation. A total of 18 M&A deals worth 7.06 trillion won (US$6.45 billion) were struck by the country’s top 30 conglomerates this year as of July 31, up 66 percent from last year’s outstanding transaction amount of 4.27 trillion won, data showed on Aug. 10.After years in the doldrums, Asia’s fourth-largest economy’s M&A market reignited in 2014 a

[THE INVESTOR] Lotte Group, the country’s fifth-largest conglomerate, was the most aggressive in acqusitions in terms of transaction value over the past six years, data showed Aug. 10. The group signed a total of 28 acquisition deals worth 9.75 trillion won (US$8.87 billion) between 2010 and end-July, according to research firm CEO Score.The amount accounted for 20.8 percent of 46 trillion won, the outstanding transaction value reported by the nation’s top 30 business groups during the period. C

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean mobile payment provider Danal is set to boost its partnership with Bango, a US-based mobile payments firm, in a bid to strengthen their foothold in the global markets, the Seoul-based company said Aug. 9. Bango CEO and founder Ray AndersonRay Anderson, chief executive officer of Bango which provides tech to enable consumers to charge app store purchases directly to their phone bill, and other key officials will hold a meeting with counterparts at Danal on Aug. 11 duri