[THE INVESTOR] KEB Hana Bank announced on Sept. 20 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with China Everbright Bank for comprehensive cooperation.KEB, with its overseas network spread in 24 countries, will provide support for the Chinese bank’s customers including trade finance and overseas remittance. China Everbright Bank, in turn, will aid the Chinese operations of KEB, which has been selected as one of the two clearing houses for won-yuan direct trading in the country. The Chinese

[THE INVESTOR] GE Power has won orders in the Asia-Pacific region that amount to US$800 million in the last three months, President and CEO Steve Bolze said at the 2016 Power-Gen Asia conference in South Korea on Sept. 20.The GE division’s most recent orders include a US$140 million contract from Korea Midland Power to build a new 250-megawatt combined cycle power facility for a power plant in Jejudo. This will be the first use of heat recovery steam generator technology acquired through its mer

[THE INVESTOR] K-pop sensation Big Bang’s T.O.P will curate a contemporary art auction to be held by Sotheby’s Hong Kong on Oct. 3.“T.O.P has selected 39 artworks, worth HK$90 million (US$11.60 million), as the guest curator,” said Pattie Wong, chairwoman of Sotheby’s Asia at a press conference in Seoul on Sept. 19. His taste as a young collector shows the changes in international trends, she added. For the special auction titled “#TTTOP”, the 28-year-old singer/actor has chosen pieces of establ

[THE INVESTOR] Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering ’s pending dues of 1 trillion won (US$8.93 billion) from Angolan state-run oil company Sonangol may be cleared only next month as the latter’s negotiation with global financial institutions over credit line maintenance has been postponed until end-September, according to news reports on Sept. 19.This pushes the delivery date of DSME’s two drill ships scheduled for Sept. 30 even further, upon which the cash strapped South Korean shipbuilde

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Bioepis has sought approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for its Herceptin biosimilar SB3, according to news reports on Sept. 19.SB3’s reference drug Herceptin is the sixth most-prescribed breast cancer medicine that has sold over US$6.8 billion worldwide.Before filing its approval application on Sept. 13, it also sought confirmation from the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board that it was not infringing the patent of the original drug. The decision i

[THE INVESTOR] SK Networks is in the final stage of talks with Hyundai Department Store to hand over its fashion division for a reported 300 billion won (US$267.76 million), according to news reports on Sept. 20. SK Networks is part of SK Group that has its roots in Sunkyung Textiles, and its fashion division is the fifth largest by sales volume. It posted 565.2 billion won in revenue last year. In addition to its school uniforms unit, the company has a dozen fashion brands in the stable from es

[THE INVESTOR]  DSEC, a subsidiary of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, signed a US$120 million contract with US-based National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. on Sept. 16 in San Diego, it announced on Sept. 19. The South Korean company will provide package of design and materials to build two ConRo vessels, a hybrid of roll-on/roll-off and a container ship, that can carry both vehicles and containers. DSEC will design the ships, 265 meter long and 35 meter wide, large enough to carry 525 car

[THE INVESTOR] Huons Global announced on Sept. 19 that it has acquired shares of its subsidiaries and affiliates, including Huons and Humedix, worth 8 billion won (US$7.13 million) to demonstrate its management accountability and earn shareholders’ trust. Huons Global split off from pharmaceutical company Huons in May and is its holding company. By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)

[THE INVESTOR]  LG Household & Health Care is fine-tuning its plan for an industrial complex in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, according to the city government on Sept. 14.The beauty and personal care behemoth has completed a lengthy process of compensation for the 390,000 square meter site dedicated to cosmetics, a first in the country, and is seeking to initiate construction within this year. In addition to a “smart” factory featuring IoT technologies, the complex will house a garden to

[THE INVESTOR] Genexine announced the preliminary report of its phase 2 clinical trial for GX-H9, its longer half-life human growth hormone, on Sept. 12 at the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology 2016 in Paris.The South Korean biopharmaceutical company released a mid-development report at the annual meeting saying that the bimonthly dose of its hormone has been found safe and effective in the multinational clinical trials on children with growth hormone deficiency. The final results fro

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Bioepis announced on Sept. 12 that its biosimilar Brenzys has been granted approval for sale in Canada.Its reference drug is Enbrel (etanercept), an autoimmune disease treatment developed by Amgen and sold by Pfizer that has raked in 10 trillion won (US$9.02 billion) worldwide. The knockoff version has won approval from South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in September 2015; in Europe in January under trade name Benepali; and in Australia in July.It will be sold b