An instant 425.8 billion-won ($375.1 million) selloff by major shareholders of South Korean pop music agency Big Hit Entertainment appears to have caused a sharp decline of the Big Hit stock price in the days after its listing, market watchers said Thursday. Two special purpose companies including the fourth-largest shareholder Mainstone -- which owned a combined 9.16 percent of common shares -- immediately sold nearly half of their holdings in Big Hit, after the company went public o

Market Oct. 22, 2020

South Korea‘s internet giant Kakao is planning to issue $300 million worth of exchangeable bonds to accumulate the dry powder for its future mergers and acquisitions activities, the company said in a filing Thursday. The US dollar-denominated exchangeable bonds will be issued privately on Wednesday on the Singapore Exchange. Investors in the hybrid securities will be offered straight bonds with zero interest. Once the bonds mature in April 2023, the hybrid security investor will be offe

Market Oct. 22, 2020

South Korea’s financial watchdog on Tuesday recommended that Lime Asset Management lose its license, the toughest penalty possible, for defrauding its investors and costing them trillions of won.  The FSS decision followed a meeting to decide the level of sanctions it would advise the regulator, the Financial Services Commission, to impose on the Seoul-based hedge fund manager. If the FSC agrees, Lime’s license as a privately pooled fund manager could be revoked as early as Nov

Market Oct. 20, 2020

JPMorgan Asset Management has reduced its stake in South Korean securities brokerage house Kiwoom Securities to cash out 26.1 billion won ($22.9 million), in an apparent profit-making move, a filing showed Tuesday. Since August, Hong Kong-based JPMorgan Asset Management Asia Pacific and five affiliated parties had unloaded a combined 1.11 percent stake in the Seoul-based brokerage house without a brick-and-mortar branches. The transaction cut JPMorgan’s stock holding to 3.9 percent, stee

Market Oct. 20, 2020

South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corp. was seeing a stock price fall in Ontario-based marijuana maker Canopy Growth, as its $18 million bet on the company lost glitter in the first half of 2020, a lawmaker said Monday. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s Rep. Jung Sung-ho added the investment in the pot producer is a point of contention, not only because KIC’s bet has not led to an instant success, but also because investing in marijuana makers is an &l

Market Oct. 19, 2020

London-based financial intelligence company PEI said Sunday it planned to hold PDI Seoul Forum Virtual Experience on Nov. 10. The virtual event, organized by PEI’s publication Private Debt Investor, is expected to offer participants a glimpse of private debt investment strategies, debt investor preferences in asset allocations and fund manager selection and monitoring processes amid challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the global capital market, PEI said. The event will feature

Market Oct. 19, 2020

South Korea’s buyout firm IMM Private Equity is looking for a buyer for Taihan Electric Wire starting November, five years after it invested 300 billion won ($261.7 million) in the then-debt-saddled company for a controlling stake, according to sources Friday. Shares of Taihan, the nation’s No. 2 power transmission wire maker, rose sharply on the Korea Exchange’s main bourse Kospi on Friday. At 12:30 p.m., Taihan shares were trading 9.8 percent higher than the previous day&rs

Market Oct. 16, 2020

Despite the containment of the coronavirus pandemic nationwide, South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, is still sitting on an economic powder keg, high-ranking officials of credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings said Thursday. While Korea and other Asia-Pacific economies are seeing a relatively swift recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to timely policies and boosted trade, they appear to be far off from pre-COVID levels, Shaun Roache, chief Asia-Pacific economist at S&am

Economy Oct. 15, 2020

Troubled hedge fund mis-selling scandal that led to losses for South Korean investors and the fund managers’ alleged collusion with ruling party lawmakers and former Cheong Wa Dae officials were at the center stage during the parliamentary audit on the Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday. FSS Gov. Yoon Suk-heun pledged to take stern actions against those responsible for the mis-selling, as the financial watchdog‘s investigation into managers such as Lime Asset Management and O

Market Oct. 13, 2020

Shinhan Financial Group said Monday that minority shareholder BNP Paribas has bought a stake worth an undisclosed amount in the South Korean banking group by securing the minimum threshold to keep the strategic partnership intact after a scheduled equity increase. According to Shinhan, BNP Paribas is set to defend the partnership even after the 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) equity increase by inviting new shareholders -- Affinity Equity Partners and Baring Private Equity Asia -- on Oct. 20.

Market Oct. 12, 2020

KB Financial Group and the Korea Growth Investment Corp. said Sunday that they would select two external partners to establish funds worth at least 30 billion won ($26 million) as part of their five-year social impact investing initiative. KB Financial Group will commit 15 billion won to the two external partners combined, and K-Growth will provide 5 billion won. The selected partners will pool at least 10 billion won to create the funds by the first half of 2021, according to K-Growth’s

Market Oct. 11, 2020

Tencent-backed online movie ticket booking platform Maoyan Entertainment has unloaded its stake in YG Entertainment worth a combined 22.1 billion won ($19.2 million) since August, disclosures showed Sunday. The selloff reduced the Chinese company’s control over South Korea‘s major entertainment powerhouse -- home to K-pop groups Big Bang, Blackpink and the newly-debuted Treasure -- to 5.78 percent, from the previous 8.09 percent. In September alone, Maoyan divested a combine

Market Oct. 11, 2020

International Finance Corp., a global development institution, said on Wednesday it hosted a virtual workshop targeting Korean infrastructure developers and investors to allow them to identify new opportunities post-COVID-19. IFC officials discussed the upsides and challenges of public-private partnership projects in Southeast and Central Asia and highlighted the role of IFC to turn the PPP projects into more bankable ones, according to IFC. Speakers also focused on environmental and social ri

Market Oct. 8, 2020

South Korea’s stock market saw a combined 498 trillion won ($428 billion) worth of short selling transactions from 2015 to 2019, but a high bar exists for retail investors wishing to engage in the practice, a lawmaker said Monday. Ruling Democratic Party Rep. Lee Jung-mun said retail investors need greater access to short selling, and called for the introduction of legislation before the temporary ban on the short selling of listed shares here expires in March 2021. The annual volume o

Market Oct. 5, 2020

After recent success in the market for Seoul office space, London-based investment firm Actis is looking to further invest in Seoul area real estate, this time with a focus on industrial assets. The company is among those looking to invest in data centers in South Korea, as demand spikes. As server requirements expand beyond what companies can accommodate in their main offices, firms are looking to relocate their servers to the cloud or a third-party facility. Both options require data cente

Market Oct. 4, 2020