Samsung BioLogics on Thursday said it has selected five advisers to lead its initial public offering process on Korea’s main bourse KOSPI.They include a mix of Korean and foreign investment banks including Korea Investment Securities, NH Investment & Securities, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse.The Samsung BioLogics headquarters in Songdo, Incheon (Samsung BioLogics)Korea Investment Securities will represent the Korean investment banks while Citi will represent the foreign side, Samsung

The chairman of South Korean cosmetics brand TonyMoly said Thursday that the company is preparing to aggressively expand its business in China this year, projecting sales of 260 billion won ($213 million) for 2016.　“We plan to focus on our business in China starting this year, as we have concluded the two-year legal dispute with our local distributor,” chairman Bae Hae-dong told reporters in Seoul during a press conference to mark the brand’s 10th anniversary.　Having won its two-year lawsuit aga

LG Household & Health Care, South Korea’s leading maker of household goods, said Wednesday that its humidifier disinfectant sold back in the late 1990s did contain potentially harmful chemicals, but that they were used in small amounts that would not cause damage.　Earlier in the day, local news agency Newsis had reported that LG’s “119 Humidifier Disinfectant” product sold from 1997 to 2003 had contained benzalkonium chloride (BKC) a toxic substance that can be fatal when ingested.According to t

MACAU -- Pinched by a prolonged economic slowdown as well as toughened regulations by authorities in mainland China, Macau, Asia’s largest gaming market, has been in a downward trend for the last two years. Its revenue dropped by 34 percent last year. The numbers of visitors -- both from the mass and VIP market -- declined, raising concerns of stakeholders in the region about its sustainability.G2E Asia participants look around the event venue inside the Venetian Hotel in Macau on May 17. (G2E A

Korea’s top three hypermarket chains were slapped with a combined record-high fine of 23.89 billion won ($20.2 million) by the nation's antitrust agency Wednesday for violations of retail transaction regulations.　Homeplus, E-mart and Lotte Mart were fined for failing to comply with orders to correct practices such as unilateral deductions on payments made to suppliers, unpaid use of supplier employee labor, unfair division of labor costs, among other actions, the Fair Trade Commission said in a

Samsung Bioepis is scheduled to begin its final stage of clinical trials for SB8, its new biosimilar drug referencing Roche’s blockbuster cancer treatment Avastin (bevacizumab), around the world.According to the EU Clinical Trials Register, Samsung Bioepis will carry out phase-III clinical trials for SB8 in 10 countries in Europe, as well as in Taiwan and Korea.A total of 678 subjects are scheduled to participate, according to the EU database.Samsung Bioepis headquarters in Songdo, Incheon (Sams

From lunchbox meals to kimbap and sandwiches, ready-made food can be easily bought from convenience stores that can be found in just about any street corner in Korea. However, there are some differences to the ready-made food preferred by different genders. Females apparently prefer eggs while men prefer chicken as the main ingredient in such food, according to recent data from the nation’s leading convenience store chain CU.Some 68.3 percent of CU’s egg-based ready-made food, including its egg

CJ Group chairman Sohn Kyung-shik (right) meets with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo at the CJ E&M headquarters in northwestern Seoul on Tuesday. The two leaders discussed the legacy of CJ Group as well as ways to boost cultural exchanges between Korea and Indonesia. The Indonesian president is currently on a three-day official visit to Korea. (Yonhap)

South Korean cosmetics brand TonyMoly said Monday it has begun selling its products at all Sephora stores in Europe, becoming the first homegrown brand to do so.It held a launch ceremony at Sephora’s main store on the iconic Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris on May 13 and 14, with the aim of introducing its products to local beauty shoppers.Local customers look at Tony Moly’s products at Sephora’s main store in Paris (Tony Moly)“TonyMoly offers unique products at affordable prices and is increa

The Financial Supervisory Service, the nation’s top financial watchdog, said Monday it has issued a “warning” to Shinsegae Group chairwoman Lee Myung-hee who was accused of having held illegal ownership of company stocks under borrowed names last year.　In November 2015, Shinsegae declared that Lee possessed some 380,000 company shares worth around 80 billion won ($68 million) under the names of three group executives, including former group chairman Koo Hak-seo, and that she would convert them t

South Korea’s leading duty-free operators are bracing for full-on competition to attract foreign tourists, as all five of last year’s newly-licensed duty-free stores in Seoul will open for business this week.Shinsegae and Doosan are scheduled to open their new duty-free shops in Seoul on Wednesday, driving up competition among Korean duty-free businesses that target foreign shoppers, mainly the Chinese. Duty-free stores are a rare bright spot in Korea’s sluggish retail sector, growing by an aver

Despite most people feeling uneasy about eating insects, one particular insect is scheduled to soon debut as a part of a protein-rich meal in South Korea.　Jeong Poong, an affiliate of the Korean general foods company Daesang Group, on Thursday said that it will introduce a series of readymade soups made with protein from mealworms this year.Jeong Poong’s new soups made with mealworms (Jeong Poong)　The new soups are infused with high-concentrate protein extracted from mealworms, the larval form o

CJ CheilJedang launches fruit vinegar to flavor water Korea’s leading food maker CJ CheilJedang has launched a new “water enhancer,” which consists of portable containers of concentrated liquid flavor designed to be mixed with plain water.CJ’s “Petitzel Water POP” enhancer comes in three fruit vinegar flavors — green grape, lemon and mixed berries. CJ’s new product has a vinegar concentration that is eight times higher than conventional fruit vinegar. One 60-ml bottle can produce up to 20 cups (

Green Cross, a Korean biopharmaceutical company, said Wednesday it presented the successful clinical trial results of a novel treatment for hepatitis B under development, GC1102, at a medical conference in Seoul last week.　The company highlighted the results of ongoing phase II clinical trials on its new drug at this year’s International Liver Transplantation Society meeting.Green Cross delivers a presentation at a symposium held on May 6 as part of this year’s International Liver Transplantatio

KBIO PARTNERS WITH M&A ASSOCIATION -- Seo Jeong-sun (left), president of the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, and Korea M&A Association president Kim Ik-rae agree to a cooperative partnership in a ceremony held in Seoul on Tuesday. Under the new partnership, the two bodies will jointly host seminars, educational programs and consulting sessions with the goal of supporting the growth of Korean businesses engaged in the up-and-coming field of biotechnology. (Korea Biotechnology Industry

BEAUTY FOR CANCER PATIENTS -- AmorePacific kicked off this year’s “Makeup Your Life” campaign at the Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul on Tuesday. The campaign, to be held from May-July and later from September-November, offers beauty programs and makeup services to female cancer patients who have undergone surgery or chemotherapy at some 35 hospitals in and out of Seoul. Since its foundation in 2008, the campaign has served some 10,035 female cancer patients in Korea, according to AmoreP

Iran and Korea have signed an agreement to partially ease regulations governing Korean cosmetics exports to Iran starting from later this year, making way for the expanded sales of locally made cosmetics in the Iranian marketThe Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Monday said its Iranian counterpart has agreed to eliminate on-site inspections — which had been mandatory until now — for certified Korean cosmetics destined for sale in Iran. (123RF)As long as they are certified under the Good

CNP Cosmetics, owned by LG Household & Health Care, on Monday said it has launched a new luxury brand named CNP Rx, joining Korea’s lucrative market for high-end cosmetics.CNP Rx recently opened its first store inside the main Hyundai Department Store in Gangnam, Seoul, with plans to enter more department stores in the near future, LG H&H said. The newly opened CNP Rx store inside the main Hyundai Department Store in Gangnam (LG Household & Health Care)Unlike the original CNP Cosmetics brand --

Paris Baguette, a bakery brand operated by South Korea’s leading food company SPC Group, is officially embarking on the franchise business in the U.S., with its first franchise store in San Jose, California, the company said Sunday.Up to this point, SPC Group had directly operated its 45 Paris Baguette outlets in the U.S. The newly-opened San Jose store is its 46th store to open in the country, and the first to do so under a franchising agreement.The newly-opened Paris Baguette store in San Jose

Some 80 million employees of China’s Nanjing Joymain Science & Technology Development Co. enter Seoul through the Incheon International Airport on Thursday afternoon. As the largest ever tour group to visit Korea at once, the employees are here as part of a company-sponsored incentive trip for its high-performance workers. They are set to visit popular tourist spots in and out of Seoul, shop at duty-free stores and hold a large-scale samgyetang party by the Hangang River during their scheduled s