[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Heavy Industries will issue 159.12 million new shares with the aim of raising about 1.1 trillion won (US$984 million).The plans were approved in a board of directors meeting held Aug. 19, following a shareholders meeting. The board set the issue price at 6,920 won, a discount of 20 percent from the current market price. The price will be finalized Nov. 2. The board also approved the plan to allocating 20 percent of the new shares to employee shareholders. The new shares wi

[THE INVESTOR] The creditors of STX Corporation on Aug. 19 denied reports they are preparing to open bids for the company.STX Corporation was the holding company of STX Group, and is currently under creditors’ control. Korea Development Bank holds the largest share, 39.59 percent, of the company. Including stakes held by other creditor banks, STX Corporation is 70.55 percent controlled by creditor banks. In response to the Korea Exchange’s request for verification, the creditors said that althou

[THE INVESTOR] A conference of South Korean and Chinese business leaders has been called off over issues surrounding a US missile defense system.According to the Federation of Korean Industries, the China International Council for the Promotion of Multinational Corporations demanded the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system be included in the agenda. Seoul’s decision to bring in the US’s THAAD system has been met with criticism from China, and concerns have risen that China could re

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Heavy Industries CEO Park Dae-young said on Aug. 19 the company may offer project management and operating and maintenance services.Speaking at a shareholders meeting, Park said that such services are being considered as new business opportunities. “There were many requests for operating and maintenance services from shipowners, but a large part (of operating and maintenance services) is going to Singapore,” Park said.  Samsung Heavy CEO Park Dae-young“If we, who know the

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Heavy Industries on Aug. 19 raised the ceiling on the number of shares it can issue by 200 million, in preparation for raising capital.With the changes, the maximum number of shares the company can issue has been raised to 500 million. Hit by the industry’s prolonged slowdown, Samsung Heavy plans to raise about 1 trillion won (US$900 million). According to a review by Samjong KPMG, Samsung Heavy could face a liquidity shortage of 1.6 trillion won in the worst-case scenario

[THE INVESTOR] KB Investment & Securities is to be selected to oversee the initial public offering of Jeil Holdings, local media reported Aug. 19.Jeil Holdings is the holding company of Harim Group, a South Korean livestock and animal feed group. Harim’s subsidiaries also include shipping line Panocean, formerly STX Panocean. According to reports citing unnamed finance industry sources, Harim Group will hold a board of directors’ meeting on Aug. 24 and confirm KB Investment & Securities for the

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Life Insurance’s plans to raise its stakes in financial affiliates is again adding weight to speculation the company is seeking to become the holding firm for Samsung Group’s finance subsidiaries. Samsung Life plans to acquire 9 percent of Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance shares held by the company. The deal would raise Samsung Life’s stakes in Samsung Fire and Marine to about 24 percent. In addition, Samsung Life will acquire 9 percent of Samsung Securities currently hel

[THE INVESTOR] Sambu Construction is to be put up for sale within the month, local media reported Aug. 18.Reports citing unnamed finance industry sources said the company’s creditors are preparing to restart the process within the next two weeks. Sambu Construction and subsidiary Sambu Construction Industrial had been put up for sale as a package deal earlier this month, but the creditors failed to select a preferred bidder. At the time, the failure was attributed to the fact that Sambu Construc

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s Military Mutual Aid Association announced Aug. 17 it will invest 40 million euros (US$45.3 million) in the latest Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund.The latest MEIF will invest in utilities, communications and transport infrastructure in Europe. The MMA said that the decision was made based on the MEIF’s high yield, and the positive outlook for Europe’s infrastructure market. Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] The country’s economic growth will slow further during the second half of the year, the POSCO Research Institute projected on Aug. 18.In its second half outlook report, the institute projected a growth rate of 2.2 percent, down 0.8 percentage point from the 3 percent growth recorded for the first half.For the year as a whole, the institute projected a growth rate of 2.6 percent, 0.1 percentage point lower than that projected by the Bank of Korea. “It is deemed that economic slowdo

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Life Insurance plans to acquire additional stakes in Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance and Samsung Securities Aug. 18. The move is thought to be part of Samsung Group’s plans to establish Samsung Life as the holding company for its financial companies. The plans are to be put to the three companies’ boards of directors later in the day.  Samsung headquarters in SeoulSamsung Life plans to acquire 9 percent of Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance shares held by the company. The

[THE INVESTOR] The Korea Development Bank is planning a large-scale capital increase for ailing shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering within the year, local media reported Aug. 17. KDB is DSME’s largest shareholder and main creditor bank. According to reports, KDB will raise capital using means approved by financial authorities to resolve DSME’s insolvency. At the end of the first half of the year, DSME’s assets came to about 15.59 trillion won (US$14.09 billion), while debt sto

[THE INVESTOR] The US International Trade Commission on Aug. 12 ruled that South Korean petrochemicals are damaging the US industry, raising concerns of further antidumping measures against South Korean products. According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, the USITC sided with US chemicals-maker Eastman Chemical’s claims against three South Korean producers of DOTC. DOTC is a plasticizer use in the production of polyvinyl chloride and other plastics. In its petition, Eastman Chemic

[THE INVESTOR] Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho and his daughter Shin Young-ja drew large salaries despite the group’s crisis and not playing a professional role, regulatory filings show. The first half financial statement Lotte Shopping filed on Aug. 17 shows that Shin Kyuk-ho received 800 million won (US$725,000) in salary for the period. Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-hoHowever, Shin Kyuk-ho has played no part in management since October. In comparison, Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin’s sal

[THE INVESTOR] One out of four affiliates of South Korea’s 10 largest conglomerates experienced a sales decline in the first half of the year, the Korea Exchange said Aug. 18.The Korea Exchange’s analysis of the consolidated financial statements of 68 publicly traded affiliates of the 10 largest conglomerates showed that 26 firms’ first half sales have declined on-year. Of these, seven companies, including POSCO, LG Display and Hyundai Heavy Industries, recorded sales drops ranging from 1 trilli

[THE INVESTOR] MBK Partners revealed Aug. 17 that it is conducting separate negotiations with multiple bidders for the Korean unit of ING Life Insurance. MBK Partners also refuted rumors that Chinese bidders had pulled out, saying it is now in talks with a larger number of bidders than had been reported in the media. The process of selling the insurer, which was initially expected to be concluded soon, is expected to take up to two months longer. Earlier in the week, speculation had risen that t

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea's electric roaster-maker Zaigle will use funds raised from its initial public offering scheduled for Sept. 6 to expand into new markets, the company’s CEO said Aug. 17.Speaking at a press conference, Zaigle CEO Lee Jin-hee said that the company is hoping for a “second jump” following the IPO. At the IPO, 5.6 million shares are to be sold, and the company is hoping to raise between 112 billion won (US$101 million) and 128.8 billion won. The company said that the funds r

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Group companies took both the top and bottom spot among KOSPI-listed companies in terms of operating profit for the first half, industry data showed on Aug. 17.According to Korea Exchange’s analysis of 514 companies’ consolidated first-half earnings report, Samsung Electronics posted the highest operating profit in the first half, while Samsung SDI posted the largest operating deficit. The data showed that Samsung Electronics’ consolidated operating profit for the first si

[THE INVESTOR] Mobile games developer Com2uS posted first-half operating profit of 106.6 billion won (US$96.3 million) to become the highest earner among KOSDAQ-listed firms, Korea Exchange data showed on Aug. 17. The company’s figure for the first half of the year is an increase of 43 percent from the same period last year. Com2uS was followed by Celltrion with 100.7 billion won and CJ O Shopping with 68.7 billion won. In terms of on-year increase in first-half operating profit, the milk produc

[THE INVESTOR] The unions of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group’s three shipbuilders announced on Aug. 17 they will go on an all-out strike until the companies withdraw their restructuring plans. Burdened by growing debt and a global industrywide slowdown, Hyundai Heavy’s shipbuilders have been rolling out restructuring measures that include voluntary redundancy programs. “We declare an all-out coalition strike, which is the unions’ last weapon,” the leaders of the unions of the three companies -- H