[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

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean cosmetics firm Too cool for school has signed an agreement with Chinese fashion enterprise Harson to establish a joint venture on Aug. 26, according to news reports on Sept. 7.The 6-year old beauty brand has invested US$6 million and owns 60 percent stake in the JV named Shanghai too cool Cosmetics, which will distribute and sell the South Korean cosmetics in China. The JV will last 10 years with neither party allowed to sell its stake, and Harson will not be able to

[THE INVESTOR  South Korean biopharmaceutical companies are shifting their focus to biosimilars of cancer treatment drugs as a number of blockbuster originals hit the patent cliff, according to the industry on Sept. 5. Samsung Bioepis will seek approval for breast cancer treatment SB3 from European Medicines Agency within this month. Its reference drug Herceptin has recorded US$6.8 billion sales in 2015 and its patent expired in 2014. The company also found that SB3 is equally effective for gast

[THE INVESTOR] Korea Trade Insurance Corp. announced on Sept. 6 that it will provide 221 billion won (US$200 million) project financing for Samsung C&T’s biomass power station project in UK. Samsung C&T has formed a consortium and won the turnkey contract to build the plant worth 958 billion won, and its stake is about one-fourth of the project. The public insurer will offer mid- to long-term insurance for the construction of the 299-megawatt combined heat and power plant, said to be the largest

[THE INVESTOR] Korea Development Bank announced on Sept. 6 that it will fund 100 million euros for Samsung C&T’s project to build a hospital in Turkey.It is underwritten by the bank’s US$1 billion multilateral development bank special fund created in May to support South Korean companies in winning orders to build infrastructure in developing countries. The special fund is co-financed by Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and export credit agencies including Korea Trade Insurance Corp. and thi

[THE INVESTOR] SK Telecom announced on Sept. 6 that its media platform providing subsidiary ENTRIX and Intel Korea have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation to jointly develop solution and server for media cloud. The two companies will incorporate the cloud streaming solution of SKT’s wholly owned subsidiary with Intel’s Xeon processor, so that they can provide better data traffic and bigger storage with less power consumption. They are seeking to complete the development by the e

[THE INVESTOR] Mirae Asset Capital announced on Sept. 5 that it has decided to increase capital by 250 billion won (US$226.26 million).The financing arm of Mirae Asset Financial Group will issue 7,302,254 shares at 34,236 won per share and offer to its affiliate Mirae Asset Global Investments. This is in accordance with the Specialized Credit Financial Business Act revised in March that limits the stake held by a financial firm in its affiliate to 150 percent of its equity capital. Mirae Asset F

[DISCLOSURE] Korea Exchange requested a statement from LG Chem (051910) regarding the news reports saying that it will merge with its affiliate LG Life Science (068870) on Sept. 6.(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR] Kolon Industries announced on Sept. 5 that it has acquired the air bag sewing division of Hanyoung Industry for about 17 billion won (US$15.23 million). The sewing factory in Vietnam produces 7 million air bag cushions a year, and will serve as an operating base for the manufacturing affiliate of Kolon Group that seeks to tackle fast-rising air bag markets in Asia.The company decided to invest in its first Chinese factory in Nanjing so that it can produce an additional 600,000 fro

[THE INVESTOR] Lotteria will open its first outlet in Laos on Sept. 9, it announced on Sept. 4. This is the first time a South Korean company has entered the Southeast Asian country. Starting with the two-story store in the capital city of Vientiane, the fast food franchise will open a total of 18 outlets in Laos by 2020 under a partnership with Socxay Chaleun Group, a local distribution specialist.With this, Lotteria will have a presence in seven nations, including among others Myanmar, Cambodi

[THE INVESTOR] Ilyang Pharmaceutical has signed an agreement to export its technology for its new ulcer treatment Noltec to Russia’s largest pharmaceutical company R-Pharm, the company announced on Sept. 5.The South Korean pharmaceutical company developed ilaprazole -- trade name Noltec -- in 2008 and the drug’s turnover in the first half of this year reached 6 billion won (US$5.42 million), a 7.2 percent rise from the same period last year. The US$200 million contract includes exclusive supply

[THE INVESTOR]  NHN Entertainment announced on Sept. 5 that it will invest US$4.5 million in Finnish game developer Critical Force Entertainment and publish its next game “Critical Ops” in Asia. The company was established in 2012 and its first game “Critical Strike”, a first-person shooter, was downloaded over 40 million times worldwide. This investment signifies the expansion of the team and provides additional growth momentum to lay out the strategy to lead the mobile e-sports industry, said

[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Engineering and Construction announced on Sept. 5 that it has signed a US$1.51 billion contract with Zao Nakhodka Mineral Fertilizers Factory to build a fertilizer plant in Kozmino, Nakhodka on Sept. 3. This amounts to 8.84 percent of its 2015 revenue. By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)