South Korea’s private equity house Hahn & Co. and Hana Financial Group have agreed to buy a 100 percent stake in H-Line Shipping, former dry bulk cargo arm of bankrupt carrier Hanjin Shipping, for 1.8 trillion won ($1.45 billion), according to sources on Sunday. The two firms will create a project fund for the leveraged buyout of H-Line Shipping, which is now fully owned by another fund of Hahn & Co. Under the plan, nearly 45 percent of the acquisition cost will be leveraged. T

KEB Hana Bank and Woori Bank said Friday they have appealed the levying of penalties by state financial authorities on the lenders' improper sale of derivatives-linked products.     The two lenders have raised an objection to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), which imposed fines of 19.71 billion won ($16 million) on Woori Bank and 16.78 billion won on KEB Hana Bank on Jan. 30. "We filed the objection to the financial authorities as we want the court to review

A consortium composed of D&D Investment and NH Investment & Securities has completed its acquisition of Young City office complex from UK-based investment house Actis for 550 billion won ($447.2 million), the deal manager Cushman & Wakefield Korea said Thursday. D&D Investment, an affiliate of SK conglomerate’s real estate development arm SK D&D, seeks to establish a real estate investment trust called Young City REITs by securitizing the properties. The deal allowe

South Korea’s construction equipment maker Doosan Bobcat is under credit pressure as its US subsidiary Clark Equipment is looking to leverage $300 million via five-year senior secured notes in May, filings showed Thursday. Clark Equipment’s leveraging plan is adding a financial burden to Doosan Bobcat, as affiliates and subsidiaries of conglomerate Doosan Group‘s liquidity crunch might spill over to Doosan Bobcat that is already suffering a sharp fall in sales due to the ongo

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea said Thursday it has issued a three-year Australian dollar-denominated bonds worth AU$700 million ($460 million) to investors. Following the deal, Eximbank said it has become the first Asian financial institution to sell Kangaroo bonds, or Australian dollar-denominated bonds issued by a non-Australian entity, since the coronavirus outbreak. The bonds were oversubscribed as Eximbank received AU$1.7 billion subscriptions from 57 investors. JPMorgan, Mits

South Korea’s public pension fund National Pension Service on Wednesday has affirmed its plan to shrink its exposure to domestic stocks in a move to ward off uncertainties due to fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo told reporters Wednesday. “(NPS) is certainly lowering the allocation of Korean stocks from the mid- to long-term perspective,” said Park, who also heads NPS Investment Management Committee. He added NPS Investment Management Comm

Cross-border transactions of public funds will kick off this month in South Korea and four other Asia-Pacific countries, to expand corporate and individual investors’ portfolios, according to the Financial Services Commission on Tuesday. The scheme named Asia Region Funds Passport system enables cross-selling of public funds among five countries in the Asia-Pacific region -- South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. The system will be implemented on May 27, as Korea&rsquo

South Korea’s Ryukyung PSG Asset Management and retailer Lotte Shopping are facing legal action from entities that proposed to buy four Lotte Mart discount stores for some 550 billion won ($448.4 million) in 2019, according to industry sources on Tuesday. The prospective buyers, real estate developer Moon Development Marketing and subsidiary the Korea Asset Investment Trust, filed a lawsuit in April against Ryukyung PSG -- a local asset management company that oversaw some 1.59 trillion

Reacting to the untact market trend triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak, South Korea’s financial groups are scrambling to gain an upper hand in digital financing. Untact, or non-face-to-face, has become a new standard in the local financial industry as consumers are increasingly turning to contactless financial services via smartphones amid fears of the ongoing COVID-19 or other plausible contagious diseases in the future. While the number of visitors to local bank branches decreased by

As the number of moviegoers, air passengers and shoppers shrank sharply largely due to the coronavirus outbreak and social distancing, related companies have recently turned to fundraising efforts to meet the deadline for debt repayment or refinancing. Also, those raising share capital are offering equities at a discounted price to subscribers in order to ensure success. A leading example is multiplex cinema operator CJ CGV, which aims to raise 250.2 billion won ($202.9 million) in July from in

E-commerce giant Coupang said Friday it has partnered with KB Kookmin Bank to launch early payout services for merchants, through which small and medium-sized business owners will receive payment for their sales in advance of the regular payday. Through the early payout on Coupang’s Marketplace, the nation’s biggest online platform for merchants, the e-commerce firm aims to financially support the coronavirus-hit SMEs, who are in need of cash either to pay their employees’ sa

Credit card spending by Koreans dipped at a slower rate in April than the previous month amid the COVID-19 infection slowdown, industry data showed Wednesday.  Combined credit card spending last month decreased by 2.9 percent from a year earlier to reach some 54.5 trillion won ($44.5 billion), marking a smaller dip compared to 6.7 percent in March, said Rep. Park Kwang-on of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, quoting data compiled by eight credit card issuers: Shinhan, Samsung, KB Koo

Shinhan Investment has received a request to delay K-pop-related private equity fund redemption from a Hong Kong-based asset management firm due to underperforming entertainment business, according to industry sources Wednesday. The brokerage unit of the Shinhan Financial Group invested 20 million euros ($21.7 million) in Royal China International Asset Management’s K-pop Showbiz Asia II Fund in April last year. It was structured to earn profits from ticket sales by IME International,

Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, has entered the top ten stocks by market capitalization on a stellar quarterly performance, data showed Wednesday. The homegrown tech giant's market cap rose to 18.63 trillion won ($15.19 billion) as of 10:31 a.m., making it the 10th largest on the main bourse. The company is close behind South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co., which is 9th with a market cap of 19.7 trillion won.  Samsung C&T

On the first day South Korea started to receive applications for COVID-19 relief cash, local card issuers assigned to handle payment processes were met with a flood of unexpected inquiries -- to cancel subsidies donated by beneficiaries mistakenly. According to credit card companies, calls from recipients surged demanding to withdraw their donation to the state, saying they mistakenly clicked the button. Fund applicants can donate part or all of their subsidies to the state when filling out t