Scandal-ridden Namyang Dairy Products Chairman Hong Won-sik said Wednesday he and other shareholders scrapped a stake sales and purchase deal with Seoul-based private equity firm Hahn & Co., citing unfulfilled requests from their end. Hong added that the shareholders are considering holding Hahn & Co. legally accountable for the collapse of the 310.7 billion won ($270.2 million) deal. “I regret to say that our plan to normalize Namyang Dairy’s business did not bear fruit,

South Korea‘s mobile payment app operator Kakao Pay has revised down its target offer price range for the initial public offering of its stocks as its plan to go public underwent a two-month delay, a prospectus showed Tuesday. The decision will reduce the IPO size of the Ant Group-backed financial arm of internet giant Kakao, by up to some 100 billion won ($86.3 million). Under the new plan to float 17 million common shares, each share will be priced at the suggested target price range

New York-based private equity firm Blackstone is attempting to cash in on its holdings in Simone Acc Collection for up to 320.7 billion won ($275.3 million) in a partial exit involving an initial public offering, a prospectus showed Tuesday. The IPO of luxury handbag maker Simone, which could fetch up to 400.9 billion won before its proposed October listing on the Korea Exchange‘s main board Kospi, will allow the world’s largest private equity investor to carry out an immediate exi

Seoul-based buyout firm Hahn & Co. has filed a lawsuit against Namyang Dairy Products shareholders for failing to abide by a binding contract to sell their controlling shares to them, the nation’s second-largest private equity fund said Monday. The lawsuit, submitted to the Seoul Central District Court on Aug. 23, is meant to urge shareholders, including Namyang Dairy Chairman Hong Won-sik, to implement the sales deal signed on May 27 as planned, Hahn & Co. said in a statement.

A court ruling that nullified a penalty for Woori Financial Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sohn Tae-seung signals clemency for other chiefs of banks and other financial institutions who have been blamed for their role in a series of private fund misselling scandals, industry sources said Monday. The ruling by the Seoul Administrative Court Friday was in favor of Sohn, rescinding a “reprimand” warning on the banking group chiefs by the Financial Supervisory Service. The

South Korea on Friday saw its first public real estate investment trust debut on the domestic stock market this year, with more debutants headed for the listing soon. D&D Platform REIT, which holds office and industrial portfolios at home and abroad, started trading on the Korea Exchange‘s main board Kospi Friday. A REIT refers to a vehicle designed to offer dividend returns to its investors through investments in securitized real estate assets. The nation’s first multisector

South Korean banking giant KB Financial Group is ramping up its push to venture into the Indonesian financial industry, as its securities brokerage arm awaits a regulatory approval to set foot in the largest economy in Southeast Asia. KB Securities, a Seoul-based investment bank and brokerage house, said Friday it is poised to inject some 50 billion won ($42.8 million) in capital to become a new shareholder of an undisclosed midsized Indonesian firm dedicated to securities underwriting and bro

The exit strategies of global private equity firms in South Korea indicate that Asia‘s fourth-largest economy is becoming a new proving ground for capital allocation in the Asia-Pacific region, according to market watchers on Thursday. The latest to do so was Bain Capital Private Equity, which inked a 1.7 trillion-won ($1.4 billion) deal to exit from listed botulinum toxin maker Hugel. Bain Capital Private Equity on Wednesday agreed to sell its 5.4 million shares and some 800,000 convert

The National Pension Service had a reserve fund of 908.3 trillion won ($777.7 billion) as of end-June, logging a 7.49 percent financial gain over the past six months, a preliminary estimate showed Wednesday. The world‘s third-largest pension fund has generated 74.5 trillion won in investment returns from January to June, as its stock holdings at home and abroad outperformed their benchmarks. This beat the earlier projection in 2020 where the NPS assets under management will stand at ju

Hanwha Asset Management said Wednesday it has bought shares in Hanwha Group’s brokerage arm, Hanwha Investment & Securities, from other nonfinancial group affiliates. The asset management firm acquired a combined 56.8 million common shares -- or a 26.46 percent stake -- in the brokerage house for 320.1 billion won ($274 million). Their sellers were auto parts maker Hanwha Global Asset, leisure service provider Hanwha Hotels & Resorts and department store operator Hanwha Galleria T

South Korean chaebol have been facing growing legal challenges from shareholders questioning the opaque influence exercised by members of their controlling families. With the market pressure to improve transparency in governance and management, the chaebol families need to communicate with the public with sincerity and take concrete actions, a seasoned lawyer said. “A majority shareholder who is not willing to communicate will inevitably be exposed to risks in management and will be co

Minority shareholders of Kyobo Life Insurance denied having colluded with the company’s accountants to influence the pricing of shares as they sought to exit the company after its failed attempt to go public, one of its shareholders, Affinity Equity Partners, said Sunday. Legal representatives of the investor consortium led by the Hong Kong-based private equity firm argued in a statement that it abided by South Korea’s rules when estimating the strike price with the accounting firm

South Korean builder Hyundai Engineering’s anticipated initial public offering will bring its equity value to over 10 trillion won ($8.5 billion), as its market debut plan is considered a critical step for a full-fledged family business succession in Hyundai Motor Group. A booming housing construction market coupled with its net cash -- amounting to 2.3 trillion won as of end-June -- make the case for the 10 trillion-won mark in equity value of the company, analysts said. The company, d

Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has closed an acquisition deal of a 30 percent stake in South Korean machinery manufacturer Doosan Infracore for 850 billion won ($722.5 million), a filing submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service showed Thursday. The business conglomerate‘s midtier holding company Hyundai Genuine has bought 23.4 million common shares in Doosan Infracore from the debt-saddled Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, which will use about 690 billion won in proceeds t

BlackRock Real Assets said Wednesday it has signed an agreement to acquire an undisclosed amount of equity stake in South Korean solar aggregator and operator Brite Energy Partners. The US-based investment firm aims to inject more than $100 million capital over time to fund the acquisition and construction of solar assets of over 350 megawatts in power generation capacity. All projects developed and acquired by Brite Energy Partners are expected to be fully contracted under 20-year terms with K

The National Pension Service, South Korea’s public pension scheme, divested its entire 11.5 million shares in General Electric as of end-June, a regulatory filing showed Wednesday. The world’s third-largest pension fund no longer held a share in Boston-based conglomerate General Electric, which was the 66th-largest stake it built with a $151.6 million valuation in March, according to quarterly filings submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. GE gained a shareholder

Danggeun Market, operator of hyperlocal e-commerce app Karrot, said Wednesday it has fetched a $162 million funding in a series D round with an enterprise valuation of $2.7 billion. The latest round of funding, led by Hong Kong-based later-stage venture capital house DST Global, was joined by Aspex Management and Reverent Partners. Also taking part in the fundraising were existing investors Goodwater Capital, Altos Ventures, SoftBank Ventures Asia, Kakao Ventures, Strong Ventures and Capstone

The International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank Group, said Tuesday that it has appointed Kim-See Lim as the new regional director of East Asia and the Pacific. The Malaysian national will lead investment and advisory operations across 18 countries including South Korea and oversee the IFC’s strategy in the region. “Given the devastating impacts of the global pandemic, IFC will continue to focus on leveraging the private sector to foster a green, resilient and inclusiv

Samsung Asset Management has withdrawn its plan to merge its hedge fund arm following a yearslong delay since the announcement, a filing showed Monday. The proposed merger of Samsung Asset and its wholly owned Samsung Hedge Asset Management was scrapped with the consent of the parties concerned, according to the filing submitted to the Korea Financial Investment Association. The merger plan was announced in April 2020 and was designed to be completed by August the same year. But the plan has

South Korean investors’ appetite for shares in electric vehicle maker Tesla has been on the wane over the past few months, with many turning to vaccine-related stocks, including Moderna, data showed Monday. While Tesla remains a top pick for Korean investors, with combined holdings of $9.7 billion as of Aug. 10 -- the highest here among US-listed stocks -- there were signs that Koreans had begun selling off shares in the world’s largest electric car maker in June, according to data