Hyundai Merchant Marine, the nation’s second-largest shipping company, said Thursday it is striving to lower freight rates on chartered fleets in a desperate move to stay afloat. Hurt by the slowing global trade, particularly from falling demand in China, the debt-ridden operator has been negotiating with overseas ship owners to cut rates since February, the outcome of which could affect the ailing firm’s fate. Creditors, including Korea Development Bank, are keenly watching the negotiations to

Korean Internet giant Kakao plans to raise 270 billion won ($231 million) through bond issuance to pay off debt it borrowed to acquire the country’s top music streaming service provider Loen Entertainment, sources said Thursday. On Wednesday, Kakao issued three-year bonds worth 70 billion won in private placements with a coupon of 2.08 percent. It hopes to raise another 200 billion won through a public offering in April. The money will be used to repay 800 billion won in loans that Kakao borrowe

Pulmuone, Korea’s top tofu brand, has agreed to acquire part of Vitasoy USA in a deal valued at $50 million, the Korean firm said Thursday. Pulmuone will take over all Vitasoy operations and brands, except its soybean milk business. Based in Ayer, Massachusetts, Vitasoy USA holds a 60 percent share of the U.S. tofu market with the Nasoya and Azumaya brands. “(We) expect the acquisition to help boost Pulmuone’s presence in the U.S. market,” the Seoul-based Pulmuone said in a filing.Pulmuone enter

Korea’s state debt collector, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., plans to open overseas offices to help locate slush funds or other illegal money hidden outside the country by companies and businesspeople. Preparations have been underway since the beginning of the year, with the United States, Cambodia and Australia, as likely candidates for the new offices, KDIC officials said Thursday. Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. headquarters in Seoul. (Yonhap)The agency handles seizing properties of individ

Economic policymakers here have lately dismissed rising concern over the country’s slowing economy, calling such worries overblown.In the latest rebuff, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho claimed this week that some skeptics have wrongly interpreted indicators to paint a gloomy picture of the Korean economy, which he said has made remarkable progress. Finance Minister Yoo Il-hoAt a meeting of economy-related ministers, he recalled that Korea last year achieved the highest-ever sovereign credit rating an

South Korean share prices opened lower Thursday on losses in large cap shares.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slipped 5.93 points, or 0.30 percent, to 1,989.19 in the first 15 minutes of trading. As of 10:40 a.m., the index was trading half a percent lower at 1983.26.  Seoul share prices are displayed at the Korea Exchange. (Yonhap)The decline followed overnight losses in the U.S. The Dow Jones industrial average inched down 0.45 percent to 17,502.59, while the tech-laden Nasdaq

Hanjin Shipping, a listed subsidiary of Korean Air, said in its disclosure report Wednesday that it has been considering selling assets including the company’s office building in London and some of its overseas terminals in an effort to improve finances. Hanjin Shipping's container ship (Yonhap)It added that the company will disclose further information in detail after it decides on the matter within six months. This comes as the Korea Exchange demanded the listed Korean shipping company to veri

Korea’s bourse operator said Wednesday it will strengthen monitoring of stocks with small number of shares available for trading on the market in a bid to prevent speculative investments and high volatility. According to Korea Exchange, it will halt trading of stocks when their floats come below a certain level after filing a change in the number of shares following capital reduction.  KOSPI (Bloomberg)Starting March 28, the bourse operator will suspend trading of stocks in which the number of t

SK Telecom’s Iriver, a KOSDAQ-listed audio device-maker, has lowered the value of bonds convertible to equities from 5,162 won to 4,422 won per share, it said in a regulatory filing Wednesday.The company said that this was due to a decline in its share price, which ended at 4,300 won on Wednesday, down more than 2 percent. It shares reached a 52 week high of 9,980 won, and low of 3,605 won.Holders of Iriver bonds worth an aggregate of 5 billion won ($4.3 million) could convert them to 1,130,780

The Financial Services Commission said Wednesday that it would introduce a new set of policies aimed at spurring reverse mortgages in an effort to help the elderly to better prepare for their post-retirement.In a meeting with officials from the housing sector, FSC chairman Yim Jong-yong said the regulatory body would offer the public the so-called “three sets of housing pension” in order to change the negative perception of home ownership. FSC chairman Yim Jong-yong (Yonhap)He hinted that those

Leenos, a KOSDAQ-listed fashion and information technology solutions company, has acquired a 66.67 percent stake in SUR Korea, a nail polish cosmetics maker, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday.Leenos reported that it financed the acquisition of SUR’s new shares worth 2 billion won ($1.7 million) in cash as part of its efforts to “diversify its business and seek new growth.”Leenos imports fashion bag brands of Kipling and Eastpak for the local retail market, and provides communication sol

Wonik Materials, a KOSDAQ-listed gas materials company, said in its disclosure report Wednesday that Hanwha Asset Management has purchased 64,487 shares of Wonik Materials.The share purchase has increased Hanwha Asset’s stake in Wonik from 7.48 percent to 8.52 percent, the company said.Wonik IPS, a semiconductor equipment maker, has a 46.5 percent stake in Wonik Materials, which supplies gas materials to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix for the manufacturing of chips and flat-panel displays. Han

NH Investment & Securities will join hands with Yozma Group, Israel’s venture capital fund, to support Korea-based start-ups with their global ventures, according to the securities company Wednesday.Their partnership will include NH providing financial consulting and investment banking services to start-ups operating at the Yozma Campus in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province.Yozma recently opened its campus in the region. The VC group is well known for investing in start-ups with technologies and applicat

HDC Young Chang Music, a privately held piano maker of Hyundai Development Company, reported in its disclosure on Wednesday that it has borrowed 4.5 billion won from its affiliate HDC I & Cons. (HDC Young Chang Music)The inter-affiliate loan’s maturity period is March 23, 2018 with an annual interest rate of 3.7 percent, the piano maker said. Young Chang said this loan was the extension of its previous borrowing from HDC I & Cons, a real estate development company.Hyundai Development Company, a

Samla Midas Group, or SM Group, is nearing a deal to take over one of the three dockyards of SPP Shipbuilding, as it has reached an agreement with the ailing shipbuilder’s creditor banks to clear a key hurdle in the acquisition, local news reports said Wednesday.SM Group, which owns shipper Korea Line Corp., had been selected early this year as the preferred bidder for SPP’s yard in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, but SPP’s creditor banks, led by Woori Bank, refused to issue refund guarantee