[THE INVESTOR] A consortium of global investors including South Korea’s National Pension Service have agreed to acquire the Port of Melbourne for AU$9.7 billion (US$7.32 billion). The NPS, which oversees $430 billion in assets, invested over AU$500 million into Australia’s busiest port for containerized and general cargo. The consortium is led by Queensland Investment Corporation, the Future Fund and Global Infrastructure Partners. The Korean pension fund established a joint fund with other inst

[THE INVESTOR] The labor union of financial industry employees warned on Sept. 20 that tens of thousands of workers will go on a daylong strike this week, protesting against the government’s mass restructuring and performance-based pay system. The Korea Financial Industry Union said that most of its unionized workers are likely to participate in the strike on Sept. 23. More than 100,000 people are expected to take part.Banking services across the country will be paralyzed by the strike, resultin

[THE INVESTOR]  South Korean private equity firm Lindeman Asia Investment along with Chinese institutional investors have plugged US$260 million in Cogobuy, China’s leading e-commerce platform for electronics components, the company said on Sept. 20. Through the investment, Lindeman Asia, China’s supplementary pension Social Security Fund and China Reinsurance Corp. hold a 10 percent stake in Cogobuy. The move came after the Seoul-based PEF raised $268.6 million earlier this month for its new fu

● On a US non-deal roadshow with NHN Entertainment over Sep 6-9, investors asked about: 1) the direction of web-board game regulations and chances of new mobile titles driving growth at the game division; 2) Payco’s core competitiveness and earnings model; and 3) potential M&As and how the firm plans to use its assets.Web-board game regulations and new mobile games: Many investors expressed their satisfaction with NHN Entertainment’s 2Q sales growing 20% y-y thanks to web-board game regulations

[THE INVESTOR] The Export-Import Bank of Korea will make an equity investment of US$3.5 million in the Vietnam unit of Bang Joo Optical Industries, the state-run lender said on Sept. 19. The move comes as Bang Joo Electronics Vietnam, manufacturer of optical image stabilization system and camera module, requested an equity investment from KEXIM to gain investors’ trust ahead of its planned initial public offering. For the bank, this is the first equity investment decision in an overseas unit of

[THE INVESTOR] Kolmar Korea, a major domestic cosmetics original design manufacturer, has signed a deal to acquire Process Technologies and Packaging in a bid to bolster its presence in the US cosmetics market, the firm said on Sept. 19. In a regulatory briefing, Kolmar said it has established a special purpose company, named Seokoh, to acquire a 51 percent stake in Process Technologies & Packaging for 17 billion won ($15.1 million).The Korean firm along with contract manufacturer of personal ca

[THE INVESTOR]  Mirae Asset Global Investments, South Korea’s asset manager, is seeking to raise 300 billion won (US$266.95 million) for its latest real estate fund to invest in four office buildings in Texas, US, the company said on Sept. 19.Mirae Asset MAPS US Real Estate Fund will be available at local branches of Mirae Asset Securities, Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities, and Mirae Asset Life Insurance from Sept. 19 to 28. This is the first time that the firm is offering a US real estate fund to

[THE INVESTOR] The Police Mutual Aid Association, the country’s state pension fund with total assets under management of approximately 2 trillion won (US$1.79 billion), has selected six asset managers to run its blind pool fund worth 100 billion won.The PMAA said on Sept. 13 that it has picked six general partners -- two of each private equity firm, venture capital company and private debt fund -- through a beauty contest where some 38 companies had competed. For the PDF slots, US-based Benefit

[THE INVESTOR] The Export-Import Bank of Korea has posted a net loss of 937.9 billion won (US$840.71 million) for the first half of the year as its bad debt provisions surged on heavy exposure to shipbuilders which are undergoing industry-wide restructuring, the state-run policy bank said on Sept. 13. The amount of provisions that the export credit agency put aside for the first six months stood at 1.79 trillion won, more than quintuple of 330 billion won in the same period last year. Over 75 pe

[THE INVESTOR] TS Investment, South Korea’s venture capital firm, applied for preliminary approval on Sept. 7 to get listed on the country’s junior bourse KOSDAQ, Korea Exchange said on Sept. 12. Korea Investment & Securities is the lead manager of the initial public offering. If successful, TS Investment will be the first venture capital firm in 16 years to go public on KOSDAQ. KFVC had gone public in 2000 but delisted in 2011 as it failed to generate 3 billion won (US$2.71 million), the minimu

[THE INVESTOR] Korea Investment Holdings, South Korea’s sole non-banking holding firm, is considering to bid for a stake in Woori Bank which the government seeks to privatize in its fifth attempt this year. “We are reviewing the stake purchase,” the company’s official said on Sept. 12. The holding company of Korea Investment & Securities and Korea Investment Trust Management plans to diversify its business portfolio g by acquiring a stake in the state-owned bank. Acquiring Woori Bank’s stake is

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s steel maker POSCO has decided not to bid for a stake in Woori Bank which the government is planning to privatize this year, according to the company’s official on Sept. 12. “We’ve concluded that we won’t participate in the stake sale of Woori Bank following a feasibility review,” a POSCO official said. Speculation was rampant last week that the steelmaker was interested in buying a 4 percent stake in the state-own bank as the government is pushing for another sale af

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s apparel group Hyungji has decided to buy PMJC, a French firm that holds a global license for products of Castelbajac, a fashion brand that designed for the late Pope John Paul II. “The takeover deal will be completed in late September,” the Korean company’s Chairman Choi Byoung-oh said in an interview with a local paper. The move came after Hyungji acquired the domestic and pan-Asian licensing from the French designer Jean Castelbajac in 2014 and 2015, respectively. 

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean light-emitting diode maker Seoul Semiconductor said Sunday it filed a lawsuit against Kmart, claiming the American retail giant is selling products which violated its LED-related patents. Seoul Semiconductor said the products being sold in Kmart infringed eight of its patents including high CRI, or color rendering index, enhancement with phosphor combinations, LED epitaxial growth, LED chip fabrication, multi-chip mounting technology, omni directional LED lamp technol

 [THE INVESTOR] With its chairman Lee Jay-hyun back at its helm, CJ Group could emerge as a big buyer in Korea’s merger and acquisition scene, industry watchers predict. The CJ chairman, convicted last year on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion, was the only chaebol tycoon granted amnesty by President Park Geun-hye through a special pardon last month. CJ chairman Lee Jay-hyunThe 56-year-old chief, however, has not returned to management, as he requires hospitalization for treatment of an in

[THE INVESTOR] Hanjin Shipping still faces financial challenges even after its container ship safely began unloading at the US port, industry watchers said Sunday. Hanjin Shipping’s container ship Hanjin Greece was able to dock at the Port of Long Beach on Saturday after the US bankruptcy court granted the company provisional protection from creditors in the United States. Still, market watchers said the cash-strapped shipping company needs an estimated 170 billion won ($150 million) to complete

[THE INVESTOR] Korean prosecutors digging into alleged corruption at  Lotte Group are zeroing in on the group’s chairman Shin Dong-bin, the victor of a bitter family feud over the control of the Korean-Japanese conglomerate. Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-hoThe Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office questioned Shin Kyuk-ho, the ailing 93-year-old founder of Lotte, twice at his residence in a Seoul hotel last week. It is now mulling ways to summon his third wife, sources at the office said Sun

[THE INVESTOR] Renault Samsung’s latest rollout SM6 diesel is ready to repeat the popularity of its gasoline model unveiled early this year. During a test drive last week, the new diesel model offered a stable driving experience at speeds of more than 100 kilometers per hour. The vehicle got 15.5 kilometers per liter on a 900-kilometer round-trip between Seoul and Tongyeong, located on the nation’s southern coast. It is slightly lower than its official fuel efficiency of 17 kilometers per liter

[THE INVESTOR] Following the recall of millions of its newly launched Galaxy Note 7s last week, Samsung Electronics urged consumers to halt using the phablet immediately and exchange them as soon as possible due to a battery problem.In a statement posted Sept. 10 on its website, Samsung asked users around the world to “immediately” return their existing Galaxy Note 7 and get a replacement.“We are asking users to power down their Galaxy Note 7s and exchange them as soon as possible,” said Koh Don

Amid greater product diversity and form-factor changes for IT set products, we expect DRAM makers to limit their DRAM investments, resulting in better supply-demand conditions for the industry. Given expectations that SSD demand will expand considerably, we expect the NAND supply to be tight. Meanwhile, we expect: 1) LCD TVs as well as other applications (eg, monitors and tablets) to gradually adopt larger-sized display panels; and 2) demand for flexible OLED panels to grow significantly.2017 ch