IMM Private Equity’s plan to acquire Kolmar Korea’s contract-based pharmaceutical business assets for 512.52 billion won ($427.24 million) has been postponed indefinitely, filings showed Monday. In a renewed disclosure, the prearranged deadline for IMM’s all-cash deal to buy the assets owned by Kolmar Korea Holdings’ stake by July 31 was scrapped on Friday, without setting a fresh due date. This comes two months after Korea’s third-largest private equity fund ink

  A combined market value of Naver Corp., South Korea's top internet portal operator, and other so-called 'untact' stocks, such as Kakao Corp., have seen their combined market cap surpass the 100-trillion won ($83.27 billion) mark for the first time amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. The market capitalization of the three companies, including Kakao, the operator of the country's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, and leading game developer NCSOFT Corp., came to 100.7 trillion won as of Mo

South Korean shares closed higher Monday despite a hike in global virus outbreaks, buoyed by growing expectations for an additional stimulus package. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 35.81 points, or 1.67 percent, to close at 2,186.06. Trading volume was high at about 642 million shares worth some 10.3 trillion won ($8.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 613 to 230. Foreigners bought a net 100 billion won, whil

Banks in South Korea will likely reduce their lending to local businesses and households in the third quarter due to the sluggish economy prompted by the new coronavirus pandemic, a central bank poll showed Monday. In the quarterly survey conducted by the Bank of Korea, the index measuring the banks’ attitude toward fresh loans came to negative 11 for the July-September period, marking a sharp turnaround from 1 for the second quarter and 11 for the first three months of the year. Such a

Shinhan Alternative Investment Management and US-based private equity fund Carlyle Group have agreed to create a fund to jointly invest in prime infrastructure loans, according to industry sources Monday. The fund, tentatively named “Shinhan Carlyle Infra Credit Fund I” will be launched after both firms finalize the agreement. The $600 million worth fund will be invested in overseas prime infrastructure loans in the US and Europe, they said. “Shinhan and Carlyle have discus

The financial watchdog said Monday it has issued a disciplinary warning to three lenders -- Shinhan, Hana and Industrial Bank of Korea -- for their slack management in project financing. Project financing refers to a long-term loans issued by savings banks and other lending institutions as well as a number of equity investors, which is aimed at supporting infrastructure projects.  The Financial Supervisory Service slapped disciplinary measures against the lenders as they reportedly subt

South Korean exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products rebounded in June, data showed Monday, as robust shipments of computers cushioned weak demand for displays and mobile devices. Outbound shipments of ICT products moved up 1 percent on-year to $14.9 billion last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. It marked a sharp improvement from 15.3-percent on-year drop posted in April, which was followed by a 2.7-percent decline in May. Th

Foreign investors extended their selling spree of South Korean stocks to a fifth straight month in June, data showed Monday. Foreigners sold a net 420 billion won ($348.6 million) worth of local stocks last month, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). American investors sold a net 2.5 trillion won worth of stocks last month, while British investors net purchased 1.7 trillion won worth of stocks, according to the FSS. As of end-June, local stocks held by foreign

South Korean shares opened higher Monday on hopes for economic rebound despite rising virus outbreaks around the globe. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 13.51 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,163.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The gains were led by optimism for a quick economic recovery. South Korea's exports fell 1.7 percent on-year in the first 10 days of July, but a slower rate of decline signaled recovery in outbound shipments. This week, South Kore

SEJONG -- South Korea's exports fell 1.7 percent on-year in the first 10 days of July, but a slower pace of contraction signaled a recovery in shipments as more nations lifted coronavirus lockdown measures, customs data showed Monday. The nation's outbound shipments stood at $13.3 billion in the July 1-10 period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 10-day period also declined 1.7 percent. In the first 10 days of June, exports jumped 20

Matthew Shampine aims to bring positive changes to domestic real estate sector

South Korea’s central bank is expected to keep its base rate frozen near-zero at its regular monetary policy meeting scheduled Thursday, to avoid further aggravation of the local housing market, experts said Sunday. According to experts, the Bank of Korea will maintain its policy rate at the current record-low of 0.5 percent for the time being, despite rate cut pressures stemming from economic downturns due to the coronavirus pandemic coupled with the trend of low inflation. This is main