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...

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 Hyun...

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 th...

KB Kookmin Bank said Tuesday that it has signed a commitment of 240 million Canadian dollars ($171 million) to finance a Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline project in Canada through a senior loan. This is part of the C$6.6 billion project financing from a syndicate of lenders, composed of KB Kookmin Bank and 26 other banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of Montreal and Royal Bank of Canada, it...

By Son Ji-hyoung ( consnow@heraldcorp.com )

Debt-ridden Doosan Group is in talks to sell its real estate asset Doosan Tower to Mastern Investment Management for roughly 700 billion won ($572.3 million), according to industry sources. Doosan and Mastern are said to be at the final stage to confirm the price of the commercial building located in Seoul, which the troubled conglomerate has been using as the headquarters of its holding company...

South Korea is likely to end its monthslong drought in the initial public offering scene with Seoul-based pharmaceutical services company DreamCIS moving to raise 20.2 billion won ($16.5 million). DreamCIS, a company that provides contract-based research services to pharmaceutical and health care firms, said Monday it has fixed its offer price at 14,900 won per share, at the higher end of the pr...

The number of investors holding Samsung Electronics shares surged more than five times after the company divided the face value of stocks two years ago, data showed Sunday. According to data filed by the Financial Supervisory Service, common shares issued by Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest chipmaker, were held by more than 1.36 million investors in the first quarter, a 565 percent incre...

The mergers and acquisitions scene in South Korea remains relatively vigorous, as small and medium-sized enterprises are looking for more chances to cash out assets amid the continued COVID-19 threat to markets and industries. With a slowing number of confirmed cases, deals that have been postponed for weeks due to the virus are back on the table. Below is a roundup of major M&A deals here and t...

An affiliate of Korean real estate developer SK D&D is poised to acquire the Young City office building complex for 545.8 billion won ($444.6 million), a regulatory filing showed Thursday. A real estate investment trust established by SK D&D’s wholly owned subsidiary D&D Investment will take over the asset from investors including London-based investment firm Actis within May, according to the d...

South Korea’s financial authorities said Tuesday they plan to set detailed guidelines on non-face-to-face services -- recently labeled “untact.” As part of its efforts to help seniors adapt to digital trends and technologies in the financial sector, the Financial Services Commision announced last week that it will commission research to identify demand for digital banking and financial services ...

South Korea’s top financial watchdog announced Tuesday it plans to launch the second round of an emergency loan program worth 10 trillion won ($8.2 billion) from May 18 in a bid to financially support small business owners who have been affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak. The affected business owners will be able to borrow loans from six commercial banks -- Shinhan Bank, KB Kookmin Bank,...

The Financial Services Commission said Tuesday that it will start receiving applications for its part-time MBA program focused on digital finance from May 15. The program, slated to launch in September, will be managed by KAIST College of Business, a graduate school from technology and management, and jointly promoted by the FSC and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The program will receive 40...

Mirae Asset Global Investments, the asset management arm of Korean financial group Mirae Asset, said Monday that it scrapped a $5.8 billion deal to acquire 15 luxury hotel properties in the United States from Chinese investor Dajia Insurance, weeks after it called off the takeover. Mirae Asset, which acts on behalf of funds it manages, also said it invoked its right for the return of the 10 perc...

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin is likely to accelerate the initial public offering of its subsidiary Hotel Lotte to consolidate his grip on the multinational group’s South Korean entities amid a resurfacing proxy battle with his elder brother Shin Dong-joo, analysts said Monday. This comes as he immediately needs to increase the value of Lotte Corp., a Seoul-based holding firm of Korean-Japa...