LivingSocial, the No. 2 social commerce provider in the U.S. after Groupon, has acquired South Korea’s biggest player Ticket Monster (TMon), underscoring the popularity of discount deals through social network services amid the dearth of mergers and acquisitions in other sectors. TMon said on Tuesday that the acquisition deal has been finalized, without offering monetary terms and other detailed...

Speculation is rising that the country’s large businesses will follow Samsung’s newly unveiled plan to withdraw from business involving procuring maintenance, repair and operation supplies. Korea’s top conglomerate said Monday its flagship electronics unit and eight other affiliates plan to sell a combined 58.7 percent stake in iMarketKorea, the MRO company it set up in 2000. The decision comes...

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that it has placed two more companies on its watch list that limits mutual investments and loan guarantees. According to the Fair Trade Commission, the number of companies on the list stood at 1,580 from a total of 55 business groups as of Monday, compared with 1,578 affiliates a month earlier. A total of 12 business groups, including SK and GS, add...

South Korea plans to begin operations at a tidal power plant in Sihwa, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Tuesday. Ministry officials said it decided to advance the operating schedule by three months in consideration of rising demand of electricity in the summer. The plants have been in trial operations since April when the building of gen...

Branches’ combined income slides 43 percent year-on-year Foreign bank branches in South Korea saw their earnings plunge in the first half of this year, hurt by losses linked to the sharp rise in the value of the Korean won and interest rate fluctuations, the country’s top financial regulator said Tuesday. The combined net income of foreign banks’ 37 local branches stood at 538.5 billion won ($5...

Hyundai Asan is pushing to send its officials to North Korea’s scenic mountain resort this week for a memorial service of a former Hyundai Group chairman, officials said. The main tour operator at the stalled resort has held a memorial service for Chung Mong-hun every year since 2003, when he committed suicide in Seoul. A monument in memory of Chung was set up at Mount Kumgang. A delegation of ...

Sony Corp., Japan’ largest exporter of consumer electronics, is planning an overhaul of its television operations as the business faces an eighth consecutive year of losses. The company is aiming to draw up the plans by the end of the month and changes may include reforms at the TV business development, procurement and sales operations, said Mami Imada, a Tokyo-based spokeswoman, declining to el...

Manufacturing activity barely grew in July; slump could extend through summer WASHINGTON (AP) ― Manufacturers had their weakest growth in two years in July, a sign that the economy could weaken this summer. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said Monday that its index of manufacturing activity fell to 50.9 percent in July from 55.3 percent in June. The ...