Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
REIT IPOs elicit lukewarm response from retail investors
The initial public offerings of South Korean real estate investment trusts are drawing lackluster response from retail investors before their listing on the local stock market, estimates showed Sunday. The latest was the undersubscription of the stock offering to individual investors, when JR Asset Management’s REIT was going public on the main bourse Kospi to invest in Finance Tower Complex in Brussels, Belgium. REITs are companies designed to generate returns for investors in the for
Market July 26, 2020
-
Samsung Asset delays merger with hedge fund arm
Samsung Asset Management disclosed Sunday it has put a merger plan with its wholly owned hedge fund subsidiary on hold. The Seoul-based asset manager that oversees 26.9 trillion won ($22.3 billion) assets -- largest in South Korea -- added it would make an announcement once the date of merger is rescheduled. The deal was initially set to be closed by Aug. 1, following regulatory approval. The news comes amid intensifying scrutiny by authorities of Korean privately pooled funds -- private equ
Market July 26, 2020
-
IGIS drops Gangnam apartment renovation plan amid backlash
IGIS Asset Management said Thursday it has canceled a plan to renovate an apartment building in Gangnam, an affluent southern district of Seoul, it acquired in April. The nation’s largest commercial property investor added it would liquidate the privately pooled fund that was created to invest in the redevelopment project, immediately after it sells the residential building. The asset management company purchased Samsung World Tower from an individual for 42 billion won ($35 mil
Market July 23, 2020
-
Watchdog accuses Optimus hedge fund of alleged fraud, embezzlement
The nation’s financial watchdog said Thursday its probe revealed that scandal-ridden hedge fund Optimus Asset Management faked the fund portfolio to its investors, misappropriated their money and obstructed the authorities’ investigation. “Optimus misguided fund investors to pool their money, which led to fraudulent transactions,” Financial Supervisory Service Deputy Governor Kim Dong-hoe, who is in charge of financial investment services supervision, said in a briefing
Market July 23, 2020
-
Local PEF zeroes in on Mr. Pizza acquisition
TR Investment has been given exclusive rights to negotiate with shareholders of MP Group, the operator of pizza restaurant chain Mr. Pizza, to buy a 41.39 percent stake for 35 billion won ($29.19 million), a disclosure showed Thursday. Under the binding memorandum of understanding, the South Korean private equity firm has agreed to buy 10 million existing shares of MP Group -- which operates pizza restaurants and coffeehouse chain -- from its current major shareholders including founder and e
Market July 23, 2020
-
'Korean investors’ growing interest in US tech stocks risky'
Persisting economic uncertainties due to the coronavirus outbreak appear to have only made blue chip tech stocks in the United States more expensive, while growing retail investors’ appetite for US stocks on global monetary expansion have left them prone to risks, said a strategist at global asset management firm AllianceBernstein. “On the issue of COVID-19 risk, we would just very simply say why bet on things that we don’t know?” David Wong, a senior investment strateg
Market July 22, 2020
-
Kurly founder named among world’s top female fundraisers
Founder of Seoul-based same-day deliery startup Kurly, Sophie Kim, was listed among the top 10 female founders in the world by fundraising, data showed Tuesday. The founder of Market Kurly had raised the eighth-most money on the list as of June, raking in a combined $282 million since Kurly’s inception in 2014, according to data compiled by Businessfinancing.co.uk, a research and information provider in UK. Kim was the only Korean and one of four from Asia. The list of Asian entreprene
Market July 21, 2020
-
Seoul's commercial properties market less affected by coronavirus: reports
South Korea‘s commercial real estate market has been relatively less affected by the pandemic as the demand for both prime offices and logistics assets remains stable partly thanks to high liquidity and profit-seeking investors, reports showed Tuesday. The higher market liquidity coupled with the resilience of the economy, has instead beefed up competition for deals involving “core assets,” or prime office buildings that offer investors a stable source of income. “The
Market July 21, 2020
-
[Market Close-up] Snowballing fiasco shows Korea's failure to create healthy hedge fund environment
This is the first in a two-part series exploring South Korea’s troubled hedge funds market. -- Ed. Yoo Hye-kyung, 76, discharged herself from a hospital a day early to participate in a rally on Wednesday in Seoul to demand full compensation for her 500 million won ($450,000) investment in Optimus Asset Management. Claiming that she hadn’t even heard of the hedge fund manager when she signed a contract with NH Investment & Securities, a leading brokerage here, Yoo was furious th
Market July 19, 2020
-
Kakao Pay vows to expand e-bills service
Electronic payment service provider Kakao Pay said Thursday it aims to expand its service to enable bills to be created, delivered and paid online to spearhead Korea’s aim to transform into a paperless society. Capitalizing on the group’s popular mobile messenger platform KakaoTalk, Kakao Pay is likely to dominate the e-bills market by inviting more e-bill distributors to its platform, Lee Seung-hyo, chief product officer of Kakao Pay, said in a seminar held in Seoul. “At th
Market July 16, 2020
-
Mastern to invite W110b for French office acquisition through REIT IPO
Seoul-based property investment house Mastern Investment Management said Wednesday it plans to invite 110 billion won ($91.6 million) in South Korean retail money through its new real estate investment trust to take over part of equities in an office building in the suburb of Paris. Mastern plans to list the REIT’s 22 million shares, each priced at 5,000 won, on Korea’s main bourse Kospi in August. The listing schedule will be determined after an initial public offering that is set
Market July 15, 2020
-
NH-Amundi names new deputy CEO
Seoul-based joint venture NH-Amundi Asset Management said Tuesday that it named Nicolas Simon as the deputy chief executive officer of the France-based asset management house’s South Korean arm on Monday. Simon is formerly a deputy CEO of State Bank of India Funds Management, a joint venture of State Bank of India and Amundi to lead Amundi’s Indian operation. He served the term for five years until March. The start date has yet to be determined, according to NH-Amundi. Simon wi
Market July 14, 2020
-
K bank resumes consumer loan service
South Korea’s oldest online-only lender K bank said Monday it has resumed its consumer loan business through its mobile apps. The new loan products will be offered either in the form of personal loans for consumers with mid- to high-credit scores or overdrafts. The annual interest rate for borrowers will be 2.08 percent at its lowest. Borrowers’ credit-worthiness will be assessed under K bank’s own credit scoring system that applies machine-learning techniques and big data
Market July 13, 2020
-
IMM pauses acquisition of Kolmar CMO units
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
Market July 13, 2020
-
COVID-19 shocks on wane in Seoul’s office leasing market
The prime office market in Seoul has recently showed signs of normalization, as uncertainties due to the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak have been on the wane in key business districts, data showed Sunday. Demand from the information technology industry remained healthy, allowing major prime buildings to sign leases with large tenants, according to an estimate from real estate service firm Colliers International. In Gangnam, one of the larger business districts of the city, financ
Market July 12, 2020
Most Popular
-
1
‘Drag lawmakers out’: Yoon’s chilling order to commander
-
2
Korean millennials, Gen Z make presence felt at protests
-
3
Speak or not to speak? K-pop stars face dilemma amid national crisis
-
4
Joint investigation team on Yoon launched
-
5
NewJeans manager files workplace harassment complaint against Ador CEO Kim Ju-young
-
6
Prosecutors tighten grip on Kim
-
7
Will ruling party lawmakers change course?
-
8
Assembly passes reduced budget plan, special counsel
-
9
Milwaukee Tools launches small yet powerful impact wrench
-
10
Signs surface that martial law plotted well in advance