Baemin Hyundai Card, a food delivery-focused private label credit card product, has attracted over 100,000 users in eight months since the launch in November, card issuer Hyundai Card said Thursday. The cardusers are to redeem reward points in the form of “Baemin points,” which can be used like cash exclusively for food delivery orders through Baemin, South Korea‘s largest food delivery app. Baemin Hyundai Card users have food delivered through the Baemin app an average of 9

Major South Korean lender Nonghyup Bank said Thursday it has issued $600 million in social bonds to overseas investors to help support the vulnerable. The bank said it has floated $300 million worth of three-year bonds with an annual interest rate of 0.926 percent, with the remaining $300 million maturing in five years and carrying an interest of 1.325 percent. Nonghyup Bank said the lender has been able to reduce the spread by 0.25-0.3 percentage point as it has attracted bids worth $2.2 bill

Convenience store franchise operator GS Retail said Wednesday it inked a deal to acquire a controlling stake in online pet care retailer startup Pet Friends through working with local private equity house IMM Private Equity.  Upon completion of the deal, GS Retail and IMM PE is expected to control a combined 95 percent of shares in Pet Friends, a company dedicated to delivery of pet products, consultation and snack sampling tests through an online channel, from founder and CEO Kim Chang-wo

South Korean clothing company F&F is set to commit capital of $350.5 million to take part in a private equity firm-led acquisition of California-based golf equipment maker TaylorMade Golf, a filing showed Tuesday. The outfit maker, dedicated to licensed productions for brands such as MLB and Discovery, is taking the place of local rival The Nature Holdings, which on Monday withdrew from its $87.6 million commitment to the deal. According to a disclosure filed with the Financial Superviso

Kakao Bank, South Korea's largest internet-only bank, will seek to expand into new business areas and become the country's No. 1 financial platform, the company's CEO said Tuesday. "Kakao Bank will strive to emerge as the top financial platform and break into such areas as insurance, fund and asset management," CEO Daniel Yun said at a news conference to mark the lender's planned initial public offering (IPO). To that end, Kakao Bank will continue to seek the digital innovation of it

Bankers choose early retirement at the peak of their careers, but struggle to reenter a finance industry undergoing faster-than-expected digitalization

From home training program to vitamin shopping, insurers turn to health care market

Plastic cards may be new hot merchandise items for K-pop fans

To find new revenue source, the lender eyes acquisition to enter other Asian markets with nonconventional financial services

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

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

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

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

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

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