One Equity Partners, a spinoff of JPMorgan dedicated to middle market investment, is reportedly looking to unload part of its stake in South Korea’s drug distributor Celltrion Healthcare through a block trade for roughly 350 billion won ($283.6 million). The price of some 4 million Celltrion Healthcare shares, a 2.6 percent stake, was set at between 85,000 won and 87,000 won per share after the market closed Tuesday, according to news reports. The price was lower than the Tuesd

Viva Republica, a leading financial technology startup in South Korea that operates the money transfer app Toss, said Tuesday that it had joined hands with the Korea Electronic Certification Authority (Crosscert) to accelerate the expansion of its electronic signature business. The partnership will make it possible to use Toss e-signatures for civil affairs, bidding procedures, contracts and online tax payments, with Crosscert serving as the certificating authority, Viva Republica said. The n

Seoul-based NH-Amundi Asset Management on Monday named Kim Seung-ho as its new chief marketing officer. Kim was formerly headed the fund management unit at NongHyup Bank. He will serve a one-year term. He will replace Moon Young-sik, whose term ended in April. NH-Amundi Asset Management is a 70:30 joint venture of NongHyup Financial Group and France-based Amundi Asset Management. NongHyup Bank is a wholly owned banking arm of NongHyup Financial Group. Kim started his career in 1985 at Nat

Seoul-based KB Asset Management said Monday it has launched a fund that targets blue chips listed in the US stock exchanges. The open-ended fund is raising funds from South Korean retail investors and is expected to invest in US firms that generate stable income supported by their new growth engine, such as Amazon, Apple and Alphabet. At least 70 percent of the funds will go to large-cap stocks, KB Asset said. “The US is taking the lead in new growth engine industries, and is expected

South Korea’s financial watchdog vowed Sunday to stamp out ill-advised sales promotion of offshore retirement plans through unauthorized online channels such as social media. The Financial Supervisory Service also pledged to monitor such sales activities online and issued the mildest level of alert to consumers to protect them. This comes as the online sales promotion of offshore life insurance schemes including retirement plans from outside Korea, such as Hong Kong, became widespread w

South Korea’s private equity house Hahn & Co. and Hana Financial Group have agreed to buy a 100 percent stake in H-Line Shipping, former dry bulk cargo arm of bankrupt carrier Hanjin Shipping, for 1.8 trillion won ($1.45 billion), according to sources on Sunday. The two firms will create a project fund for the leveraged buyout of H-Line Shipping, which is now fully owned by another fund of Hahn & Co. Under the plan, nearly 45 percent of the acquisition cost will be leveraged. T

A consortium composed of D&D Investment and NH Investment & Securities has completed its acquisition of Young City office complex from UK-based investment house Actis for 550 billion won ($447.2 million), the deal manager Cushman & Wakefield Korea said Thursday. D&D Investment, an affiliate of SK conglomerate’s real estate development arm SK D&D, seeks to establish a real estate investment trust called Young City REITs by securitizing the properties. The deal allowe

South Korea’s construction equipment maker Doosan Bobcat is under credit pressure as its US subsidiary Clark Equipment is looking to leverage $300 million via five-year senior secured notes in May, filings showed Thursday. Clark Equipment’s leveraging plan is adding a financial burden to Doosan Bobcat, as affiliates and subsidiaries of conglomerate Doosan Group‘s liquidity crunch might spill over to Doosan Bobcat that is already suffering a sharp fall in sales due to the ongo

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea said Thursday it has issued a three-year Australian dollar-denominated bonds worth AU$700 million ($460 million) to investors. Following the deal, Eximbank said it has become the first Asian financial institution to sell Kangaroo bonds, or Australian dollar-denominated bonds issued by a non-Australian entity, since the coronavirus outbreak. The bonds were oversubscribed as Eximbank received AU$1.7 billion subscriptions from 57 investors. JPMorgan, Mits

South Korea’s public pension fund National Pension Service on Wednesday has affirmed its plan to shrink its exposure to domestic stocks in a move to ward off uncertainties due to fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo told reporters Wednesday. “(NPS) is certainly lowering the allocation of Korean stocks from the mid- to long-term perspective,” said Park, who also heads NPS Investment Management Committee. He added NPS Investment Management Comm

South Korea’s Ryukyung PSG Asset Management and retailer Lotte Shopping are facing legal action from entities that proposed to buy four Lotte Mart discount stores for some 550 billion won ($448.4 million) in 2019, according to industry sources on Tuesday. The prospective buyers, real estate developer Moon Development Marketing and subsidiary the Korea Asset Investment Trust, filed a lawsuit in April against Ryukyung PSG -- a local asset management company that oversaw some 1.59 trillion

As the number of moviegoers, air passengers and shoppers shrank sharply largely due to the coronavirus outbreak and social distancing, related companies have recently turned to fundraising efforts to meet the deadline for debt repayment or refinancing. Also, those raising share capital are offering equities at a discounted price to subscribers in order to ensure success. A leading example is multiplex cinema operator CJ CGV, which aims to raise 250.2 billion won ($202.9 million) in July from in

Yuanta Securities Korea said Thursday it has partnered with multinational financial market data provider Refinitiv to mount a new stock search engine function on its trading system for investors in US stocks. The service, dubbed “Reuters tRadar,” will allow users to access Refinitiv’s stock reports related to US stocks and their forecasts on the company performance based on its Institutional Brokers’ Estimate System database, which comprise the combined estimates of som

In the climate finance world, money goes not only to the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but also to innovative, eco-friendly infrastructure projects that help the world reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Striking the balance between the two themes -- adaptation and mitigation -- is one of the primary missions of the Green Climate Fund, the world’s largest fund dedicated to helping developing countries take climate actions. The fund serving the Paris Agreement on

Seoul’s prime office building market will face flagging demand due to the coronavirus coupled with new supply in the second quarter, which will create more empty space within the properties and reduce their cash flow, Savills Korea said in a report Wednesday. According to the real estate services firm, real estate investors in South Korea are expected to take a cautious stance as uncertainties in the leasing market are likely to erupt in terms of the proposed buyers’ financing cond

KB Kookmin Bank said Tuesday that it has signed a commitment of 240 million Canadian dollars ($171 million) to finance a Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline project in Canada through a senior loan. This is part of the C$6.6 billion project financing from a syndicate of lenders, composed of KB Kookmin Bank and 26 other banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada, it added. KB Kookmin Bank was the sole Korean participant. The loans will go to TC Energy, formerly kn

Korea Western Power and NH-Amundi Asset Management signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in their co-investment in a 240-megawatt wind farm project in Sweden, according to NH-Amundi on Tuesday. The infrastructure project to build 56 wind turbines in Ange Municipality in northern Sweden is poised to be completed by the end of 2020. The facility has signed a 29-year sales contract with an undisclosed regional electricity market, promising a long-term source of stable income, NH-Amund

Debt-ridden Doosan Group is in talks to sell its real estate asset Doosan Tower to Mastern Investment Management for roughly 700 billion won ($572.3 million), according to industry sources. Doosan and Mastern are said to be at the final stage to confirm the price of the commercial building located in Seoul, which the troubled conglomerate has been using as the headquarters of its holding company for over two decades. Doosan looks to sell the asset and lease it back from the proposed buyer Maste

South Korea is likely to end its monthslong drought in the initial public offering scene with Seoul-based pharmaceutical services company DreamCIS moving to raise 20.2 billion won ($16.5 million). DreamCIS, a company that provides contract-based research services to pharmaceutical and health care firms, said Monday it has fixed its offer price at 14,900 won per share, at the higher end of the price band. Its two-day institutional portion until Friday was 926.11 times oversubscribed. The compan

South Korea’s monthly spending for supporting unemployed workers hit another all-time high in April, as the fallout from the novel coronavirus is hampering efforts to remedy the damage done to the job market, data showed Monday. In April, when Korea’s virus spread peaked, the amount of unemployment benefits came to 993.3 billion won ($814.3 million), up 35 percent on-year, according to preliminary data from the Labor Ministry. This extended the record streak for the third consecuti