[THE INVESTOR]  Coway denied reports that its largest shareholder Coway Holdings will sell off its stake, in a statement released on Sept. 9 in response to Korea Exchange’s inquiry.The holding company did consult Goldman Sachs on a variety of strategies including sell-off but decided not to proceed as it decided that the stock price was underestimated, Coway added.The country’s leading water and air purifier maker has recently been under fire for having knowingly sold nickel-contaminated water p

[THE INVESTOR] “Time commerce” apps are rapidly changing the way people are reserving hotel rooms, industry officials said on Sept. 9.It‘s apparently a win-win business model for consumers and hotels, timed with the spread of the view that hotels are not just a place to sleep but also a space for entertainment and rest.Time commerce methods for hotel reservation services enable people to book vacant rooms at cheaper prices. On the day of a stay, vacant rooms are provided at a huge discount, for

[THE INVESTOR]  Daehwa Pharmaceutical announced on Sept. 9 that its oral cancer treatment DHP107 has been granted approval for manufacturing and sales by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.DHP107 is a modified version of paclitaxel, a therapy for breast, ovarian, lung and uterine cancers to be taken orally, a first of its kind in the world. Paclitaxel had to be diluted before it was administered via intravenous injection. And steroids and antihistamine had to be administered to prevent possibl

[THE INVESTOR] Celltrion announced on Sept. 9 that CT-P23, its antibody to treat seasonal flu, has obtained a US patent. This antibody neutralizes Influenza A virus and is effective in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the virus, the biopharmaceutical company explained. By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] Korea Southern Power (KOSPO) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Papua New Guinea’s Department of Works and Implementation for development of PNG Hydro Power, it announced on Sept. 9. The Oceanian country’s annual amount of precipitation is 2,000 millimeters, favorable for hydropower generation. And the South Korean public enterprise will seek to secure adequate power through this source, and expand cooperation in renewable energy.Only about 10 percent of the nation’s po

[THE INVESTOR] Hanwha Techwin has signed a partnership agreement with Immervision, a leader in 360-degree panoramic imaging technology, it announced on Sept. 9. Hanwha will apply the Canadian company’s immersive optical technology to its 360-degree camera for CCTVs, enhancing the capability of the cameras to show without distortion, peripheral resolution loss or dead zones.By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] SK Telecom announced on Sept. 9 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Pujiang Holdings to provide its total solutions for building safety and management on Sept. 8.The Chinese building management company oversees more than 200 major buildings in Shanghai including Disneyland, Hongqiao International Airport and Shanghai maglev station. “Based on IoT platform and a variety of data, (the solutions) will reinforce the safety of building users and improve the e

[THE INVESTOR] IGIS Asset Management will sign a memorandum of understanding as the preferred bidder to take over Pacific Tower in Seoul from Deutsche Asset Management on Sept. 9, beating Mirae Asset Global Investments and Ascendas, according to news reports on Sept. 8.Located in central Seoul next to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the 23-story high office building fetched 430 billion won (US$391.44 million) and the asset management company will deliver 240 billion won by taking out

[DISCLOSURE] AK Holdings (006840) reported on Sept. 8 that Hong Mi-kyung, wife of AK Vice Chairman Chae Hyung-seok and advisor of AeKyung Culture & Academy, sold 740 shares of the company. By Yun Jeong-hyeon (clareyun@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] OCI’s Chinese joint venture Shandong OCI Jianyang Carbon Black Company, a factory manufacturing key material for car tires, has been completed, the company announced on Sept. 8. The chemical company joined hands with Shandong Energy Zaozhuang Mining Group in 2014 and built a factory on a 130,000 square meter site in Shandong, China, and will manufacture 80,000 tons of carbon black per year to supply to tire makers in China. OCI’s Shandong branch will provide the raw material, and

[THE INVESTOR] Korean Air and Delta Airlines are strengthening their code-sharing agreement, increasing the routes to 159 from the current 32, the South Korean airline announced on Sept. 7.Starting from November, the largest commercial carriers in South Korean and the US will offer joint schedules including 142 destinations in the US and Canada as well as 33 destinations in Asia. Delta will start operating daily nonstop flight between Incheon and Atlanta from June 2017. In addition, they will la

[THE INVESTOR] Celltrion has completed phase 1 of clinical trials in the US for Herzuma, its biosimilar replication of Herceptin, according to news reports on Sept. 8. Celltrion’s Herzuma, a breast cancer treatment, was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in January 2014 and has finished international clinical trials, based on which it will file for European Medicines Agency’s endorsement within this year. To launch the biosimilar of Herceptin, the sixth most prescribed medicine in

[THE INVESTOR] Komipharm, a veterinary pharmaceutical company, announced on Sept. 7 that its PAX-1, trade name Kominox, has been granted permission for sale in Australia, in response to Korea Exchange’s inquiry regarding the company’s stock price surge. Kominox is a nonopioid painkiller that also fights cancer and Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved use of the medicine to treat progressive cancer patients with chronic pains through all stages, the company added.By Hwang You-

[THE INVESTOR] Medical Korea & K-Hospital Fair 2016, the largest international health care fair in Asia, will be held at Coex in Seoul, Oct. 20-22.This year’s event has combined Medical Korea Conference and K-Hospital Fair and will be held under the theme “The future of global health care: innovation, convergence and creation.” Promotional poster for Medical Korea & K-Hospial Fair 2016. KHIDIAbout 15,000 participants including public health care officials and medical facilities and specialists w

[THE INVESTOR] E-mart will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh to invest US$200 million, it announced on Sept. 8.Under a strategic partnership with the largest city in Vietnam, to be signed on Sept. 9, the South Korean retail giant will invest in commercial facilities including hypermarkets and supermarkets by 2020.The hypermarket chain will further expand contribution to the development of the city where it has opened the first E-mart outlet in the Southea

[DISCLOSURE] CJ E&M (130960) announced on Sept. 7 that it will split off its music platform and related businesses including Mnet.com into a new company, tentatively named CJ Digital Music. It will launch as a private company on Dec. 1. (theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] SK hynix will improve its performance in the second half of this year due to the rise in demand for DRAM and NAND, according to IBK Investment and Securities on Sept. 7. It maintained a “buy” recommendation for the semiconductor company. The downward cycle of DRAM since the second half of 2015 will come to end in the third quarter of this year, the securities firm predicted, raising the operating profit forecast for the third and fourth quarter to 633 billion won (US$578.88 millio

[THE INVESTOR] Vivozon’s VVZ-149, a nonopioid analgesics, has completed the 2a phase of clinical trials in the US, according to its largest stakeholder Telcon on Sept. 7. The drug development venture was established in 2008 and its painkiller candidate is currently under phase 2b of clinical trials in the country. In the US the company has finished preparation for the phase 2b. Telcon and its subsidiary KPM Tech will further increase their stakes in Vivozon and seek to diversify into biopharmace

[THE INVESTOR]  Ministry of Defense and Korea Land & Housing are finalizing their negotiations over former United Nations Command’s site in Yongsan, Seoul, according to the Herald Business on Sept. 7. After five months of negotiation they have reached an agreement on the evaluation amount of the prime real estate, estimated to be over 800 billion won (US$731.60 million). The state-owned real estate firm will put up the site for sale this year for a private company to develop the site that has be

[THE INVESTOR] Public Officials Benefit Association of South Korea has decided to withdraw 70 billion won (US$64 million) from a real estate fund that invested in commercial properties in major US cities, according to Seoul Economic Daily on Sept. 6.The association had invested in the fund in 2013. The 1.7 trillion won fund has yielded 11 percent annual internal rate of return based on the real estate in major US cities with long-term lease to government offices. The state-run public pension, wi