[THE INVESTOR] The operating profit of Kolmar Korea, South Korea’s original development manufacturing cosmetics manufacturer, is expected to surge over 30 percent in the third quarter, bolstered by increasing number of new clients, a local securities firm said on Sept. 22. The company is likely to post 20.6 billion won (US$18.64 million) in operating profit in the third quarter, up 31.1 percent from a year earlier, said Lee Sun-hwa, an analyst at Heungkuk Securities. “The Third quarter is the of

[THE INVESTOR] A South Korean bankruptcy court said on Sept. 21 that embattled Hanjin Shipping would not be able to stay afloat without resolving mounting debts, including unpaid charter fees. Since the nation’s largest container carrier, filed for receivership last month its unpaid vessel leasing fees have surpassed 40 billion won (US$ 35.74 million). The Seoul Central District Court which oversees the near-bankrupt shipper’s receivership warned that the company could face liquidation if the de

[THE INVESTOR] Dongwon Group, a South Korean food and fisheries conglomerate, seeks to acquire the country’s No.3 logistics company Dongbu Express, according to sources on Sept. 21. Dongwon Enterprise the group’s holding firm, signed a memorandum of understanding with KTB Private Equity and Q Capital Partners, the largest shareholder of Dongbu Express, to secure an exclusive right to negotiations with the sellers over the acquisition deal. The deal size is estimated at around 470 billion won (US

[THE INVESTOR] A consortium of global investors including South Korea’s National Pension Service have agreed to acquire the Port of Melbourne for AU$9.7 billion (US$7.32 billion). The NPS, which oversees $430 billion in assets, invested over AU$500 million into Australia’s busiest port for containerized and general cargo. The consortium is led by Queensland Investment Corporation, the Future Fund and Global Infrastructure Partners. The Korean pension fund established a joint fund with other inst

[THE INVESTOR] The labor union of financial industry employees warned on Sept. 20 that tens of thousands of workers will go on a daylong strike this week, protesting against the government’s mass restructuring and performance-based pay system. The Korea Financial Industry Union said that most of its unionized workers are likely to participate in the strike on Sept. 23. More than 100,000 people are expected to take part.Banking services across the country will be paralyzed by the strike, resultin

[THE INVESTOR]  South Korean private equity firm Lindeman Asia Investment along with Chinese institutional investors have plugged US$260 million in Cogobuy, China’s leading e-commerce platform for electronics components, the company said on Sept. 20. Through the investment, Lindeman Asia, China’s supplementary pension Social Security Fund and China Reinsurance Corp. hold a 10 percent stake in Cogobuy. The move came after the Seoul-based PEF raised $268.6 million earlier this month for its new fu

● On a US non-deal roadshow with NHN Entertainment over Sep 6-9, investors asked about: 1) the direction of web-board game regulations and chances of new mobile titles driving growth at the game division; 2) Payco’s core competitiveness and earnings model; and 3) potential M&As and how the firm plans to use its assets.Web-board game regulations and new mobile games: Many investors expressed their satisfaction with NHN Entertainment’s 2Q sales growing 20% y-y thanks to web-board game regulations

[THE INVESTOR] The Export-Import Bank of Korea will make an equity investment of US$3.5 million in the Vietnam unit of Bang Joo Optical Industries, the state-run lender said on Sept. 19. The move comes as Bang Joo Electronics Vietnam, manufacturer of optical image stabilization system and camera module, requested an equity investment from KEXIM to gain investors’ trust ahead of its planned initial public offering. For the bank, this is the first equity investment decision in an overseas unit of

[THE INVESTOR] Kolmar Korea, a major domestic cosmetics original design manufacturer, has signed a deal to acquire Process Technologies and Packaging in a bid to bolster its presence in the US cosmetics market, the firm said on Sept. 19. In a regulatory briefing, Kolmar said it has established a special purpose company, named Seokoh, to acquire a 51 percent stake in Process Technologies & Packaging for 17 billion won ($15.1 million).The Korean firm along with contract manufacturer of personal ca

[THE INVESTOR]  Mirae Asset Global Investments, South Korea’s asset manager, is seeking to raise 300 billion won (US$266.95 million) for its latest real estate fund to invest in four office buildings in Texas, US, the company said on Sept. 19.Mirae Asset MAPS US Real Estate Fund will be available at local branches of Mirae Asset Securities, Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities, and Mirae Asset Life Insurance from Sept. 19 to 28. This is the first time that the firm is offering a US real estate fund to

[THE INVESTOR] The Police Mutual Aid Association, the country’s state pension fund with total assets under management of approximately 2 trillion won (US$1.79 billion), has selected six asset managers to run its blind pool fund worth 100 billion won.The PMAA said on Sept. 13 that it has picked six general partners -- two of each private equity firm, venture capital company and private debt fund -- through a beauty contest where some 38 companies had competed. For the PDF slots, US-based Benefit

[THE INVESTOR] The Export-Import Bank of Korea has posted a net loss of 937.9 billion won (US$840.71 million) for the first half of the year as its bad debt provisions surged on heavy exposure to shipbuilders which are undergoing industry-wide restructuring, the state-run policy bank said on Sept. 13. The amount of provisions that the export credit agency put aside for the first six months stood at 1.79 trillion won, more than quintuple of 330 billion won in the same period last year. Over 75 pe