Yanolja snaps up $1.7b funding as SoftBank ramps up Korea tech bet

Travel and leisure platform operator Yanolja completed a $1.7 billion investment round by sole investor SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the company said on Thursday. Yanolja said the company will use the proceeds to scale digital transformation of the global travel and hospitality industry and expand its technology offerings in new markets. The company plans to build and operate an advanced global travel platform by enhancing its automated solutions using artificial intelligence and personalized offe

July 15, 2021

BlackRock Real Assets to back Korean offshore wind farm project

BlackRock Real Assets said Thursday it has closed its first investment in South Korea’s offshore wind sector, in line with the country’s renewable energy transition initiative. The New York-based asset managing arm dedicated to real estate and infrastructure investment acquired a 100 percent equity stake in renewables developer Korea Renewable Energy Development & Operation Holdings, formerly known as Igis Private Equity. The transaction price was not disclosed. BlackRock Real

July 15, 2021

COVID-19 redefines how to value Korean private companies

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for changing the way of assessing the value of a privately-owned company in the private capital market in South Korea, said a veteran investment professional on Thursday. The pandemic has accelerated both the demand and supply of services and products associated with the digital transformation and energy transition. This phenomenon triggers a bipolarization of target company valuation, Chai Jin-ho, executive managing partner at STIC Investments, said i

July 15, 2021

Eximbank extends $600 million to Tunisia for digital infra project

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea said Thursday it had agreed to extend a $600 million loan to Tunisia to support the North African country’s digital infrastructure development projects. Tunisia plans to use the fund to digitize some 4.5 million maps and land-related documents to build a database and develop a comprehensive land information management system there. “We expect that our support for Tunisia’s land management infrastructure innovation, which is the cou

July 15, 2021

Seoul stocks up on Fed's comments, improved China data

South Korean stocks rebounded Thursday morning as investors are relieved by the US Federal Reserve's reiteration of its dovish stance, with China's economic indicators signaling that the global recovery is on track. The Korean won rose against the US dollar The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 21.41 points, or 0.66 percent, to close at 3,286.22 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.2 billion shares worth some 13.4 trillion won ($11.7 billion), with gainers outn

July 15, 2021

Toss Securities launches service for gifting stock like coffee

Toss Securities, the brokerage arm of fintech company Viva Republica, on Thursday said that it launched a stock gifting service to make investing easier. The new service allows users to give away their stocks to others, just by submitting a real name and phone number, like they do to virtually send coffee or other presents via mobile messenger service KakaoTalk. The company said the new service is part of the company‘s efforts to expand market access for new investors. Earlier this

July 15, 2021

Fintech platforms become major banking tool for young Koreans: survey

More than 90 percent of young Koreans in their 20s and 30s use fintech platforms for money transfers instead of going to bank branches, a survey showed Monday. According to the survey conducted by the Korea Fintech Industry Association, about 96 percent of respondents said they use a financial technology platform developed by nonfinancial companies such as Kakao, Naver and Toss, while 60 percent said they use banking apps. The survey asked 2,000 people in their 20s and 30s who use payment ser

July 15, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on Fed's reassuring comments

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street as investors are relieved by the US Federal Reserve's reiteration of its dovish stance. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.48 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,271.29 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks traded higher, taking a cue from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's reassurance that that the time is not ripe for an early tapering of accommodative policies. Overnight, the Dow Jones I

July 15, 2021

IMM PE to acquire stake in Korea’s top furniture company

IMM Private Equity, the third-largest private equity firm in Seoul, with $5.4 billion assets under management, is in talks to become the largest shareholder of South Korea’s largest kitchen and interior furniture goods manufacturer Hanssem, a filing showed Wednesday. The proposed strategic investor and the seller group has signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the transaction. Hanssem did not disclose the proposed acquisition price. This gives IMM PE the exclusive rights to nego

July 14, 2021

Seoul stocks snap two-day winning streak on inflation woes

South Korean stocks edged down Wednesday, snapping a two-day winning streak as US losses amid renewed inflationary pressure weakened investor sentiment. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) dropped 6.57 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 3,264.81 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 896 million shares worth some 12.8 trillion won ($11.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 514 to 334. Foreigners sold a net 273 billio

July 14, 2021

Cryptocurrencies in negative territory amid growing investor fear

Cryptocurrencies remained in negative territory for a second day on Wednesday, with investor sentiment indicators hinting fear amid toughened regulations by financial watchdogs across the globe. South Korea‘s digital asset exchange Upbit operator Dunamu’s Digital Asset Fear and Greed Index -- standing at 29.76 on Wednesday, the lowest in 18 days -- showed that investors were gripped by fear for the tenth consecutive day on Wednesday. An index figure between 20 and 40 means market

July 14, 2021

Korea’s IPO subscription rate jumps 2.7 times in 2 years amid stock market rally

The book-building competition rate of initial public offerings in South Korea has intensified lately, as scores of investors with a growing appetite for expanding financial assets and abundant liquidity have flocked to make deposits for retail subscriptions, data showed Wednesday. Fueled by a recent bull run from the pandemic-hit market, new shares for IPOs were 1,376.9 times oversubscribed on average during retail tranches in the first half of this year, compared with 509.2 times in 2019, acco

July 14, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on increasing price pressure

South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday, tracking US stock losses from increasing price pressure that fueled concerns of faster-than-expected inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 16.5 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,254.88 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks got off to a weak start as an estimate-beating 0.9 percent on-year increase in US consumer prices in June fanned market worries that the world's largest economy may hasten the timeframe for

July 14, 2021

Mamamoo’s agency to go public this year

Rainbow Bridge World, the entertainment agency behind South Korean pop music group Mamamoo, announced plans to go public on the nation’s secondary bourse, the Kosdaq. It hopes to follow in the footsteps of Hybe, which became a corporate giant after its market debut. The agency has submitted an application for an initial public offering. If approved, it may enter the stock market within this year, according to publicists representing the agency. According to the plan, Rainbow Bridge Worl

July 13, 2021

Hashed invests in membership-based financial service provider Hi

Hashed, a South Korean venture capital company specialized in investing in blockchain technology, on Tuesday said it has invested an undisclosed amount in Hi, a membership-powered financial service for crypto and fiat currencies. Hi was co-founded by Sean Rach, the former chief marketing officer at Crypto.com and Stefan Rust, who served as CEO at Bitcoin.com. “Hi aims to provide a global wallet service that can provide various financial and payment services using cryptocurrency. We e

July 13, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 2nd day on speculations of strong quarterly earnings

South Korean stocks advanced for a second consecutive session Tuesday, backed by strong foreign and institutional buying that stemmed from optimism for strong corporate earnings and economic indicators for the second quarter. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 24.91 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 3,217.38 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth around 13.2 trillion won ($11.5 billion), wit

July 13, 2021

KRX to expand Korean won contract on Eurex

South Korea’s sole bourse operator, the Korea Exchange, and the Eurex Exchange will expand their tradable product range through the Korean won contract starting July 26, officials said Tuesday. Regular trading hours will be set between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. here. Incomplete contracts from the night session will be transferred to the local bourse operator’s regular derivative market, they said. The new forex future contract will complement the Kospi 200 options, the Mini-Kospi futures a

July 13, 2021

Child birth, rearing still key cause for women's career breaks: data

It takes 20 years for the female employment rate to reach the same figure of female workers in their first year of marriage, suggesting that child births and rearing are still the main obstacles they face in continuing their careers, a report showed Tuesday. A survey conducted by the Korea Labor Institute, the employment rate among married women in the first year of marriage was 68.1 percent but the figure plunged to 40.5 percent when they reached the fifth year. The job rate of married women

July 13, 2021

[Herald Interview] Scaling legal service with tech touch

More industries are being disrupted by technology, and more companies in South Korea are operating across multiple jurisdictions, often leading to complexities in international legal disputes. This is reshaping the way Korean law firms deliver legal services to domestic clients, by exploring new industrial trends, organizing its lawyers and creating new legal services for clients in response to the trends, a top attorney of a Korean full-service law firm said. “Corporate clients increa

July 13, 2021

Chubb names new head for Korea's general insurance business

Property and casualty insurance firm Chubb said Tuesday it has appointed Edward Kopp as the new country president for its general insurance business in Korea. The announcement marks Kopp‘s return to the position that he had served in from 2013 to 2018. Kopp will replace the incumbent Edward Ler, who has been appointed to Head of Southeast Asia for Chubb. Kopp, currently Chubb‘s Asia Pacific Head for Accident & Health, has more than 25 years of experience in the financial servi

July 13, 2021