The first half of 2018 has seen no Korean conglomerate pursuing trillions of won worth of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to secure new growth engines and launch new businesses. Instead, an increasing number of conglomerates merged their subsidiaries to reorganize the groups under the government’s p
Pearl Abyss, a game company that hit the jackpot with the smartphone game, “Black Desert Mobile,” launched an investment company called Pearl Abyss Capital in June this year. Kim Kyung-yeop, who has been in charge of investment assessment at venture capital companies including Stone Bridge Capital a
Lee Jae-hyun, chairman of the CJ Group, is starting to push forward with global mergers and acquisitions (M&As) after wrapping up an overhaul of the group’s organization. Lee presented the vision of "Great CJ," pledging to post 100 trillion won (US$90 billion) in sales by investing 36 trillion won (
The Lotte Group is in talks with Woori Bank to sell off the stakes in its financial subsidiaries.According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on July 29, Lotte has started exchanging opinions with domestic finance holding companies and banks to dispose of the stakes Lotte Holdings Co. own i
LG Display delivered a negative earnings surprise in the second quarter of this year. After its earnings announcement on July 25, LG Display CFO Kim Sang-don said that the company would make a decision within this year on converting its Paju plant from LCD to OLED manufacturing. Some industry inside
The Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) provided financial support totaling about 8.7 trillion won (US$7.71 billion) to South Korean companies last year to help them push into the global market.According to financial authorities and banking industry sour
South Korea’s venture capital market has been on a steady growth track for years. Last year, fresh investment in venture companies reached a record high of about 2.38 trillion won (US$2.1 billion). This sustained increase, says Lee Yong-sung, chairman of the Korea Venture Capital Association (KVCA),
Woori Bank has succeeded in acquiring a foreign financial company for the first time after declaring to turn itself into a holding company.The bank announced on June 24 that it took over Cambodia’s microfinance institution VisionFund Cambodia and changed its name to WB Finance. The newly acquired co
Woori Bank is applying for regulatory approval on June 19 to adopt a holding company system. The proposed holding company is expected to be established within this year. If the scheme is implemented as planned, the bank returns to a holding company system four years after it abolished it due to priv
The Hana Financial Group is determined to strengthen its global business capacity as a key growth driver for the future.The group is aiming to build a stable business portfolio through growth in the global business sector. It is moving forward with a strategy to raise the share of the global divisio
The combined net profits of South Korean financial firms’ overseas offices, such as banks, credit card companies and indemnity insurance companies, reached US$930 million (1 trillion won) last year. Out of the US$930 million (1 trillion won), banks’ overseas branches took up most with US$807 million
Hyundai Mobis announced on Arpil 26 that it would focus on the future car business and achieve sales of 44 trillion won (US$39.6 billion) by 2025.To this end, the company plans to raise the proportion the future car and core parts businesses to 40% of its sales, and pursue mergers and acquisitions (
Korean conglomerates’ cross shareholding practice, which has been used by chaebol owners as a means of securing control over subsidiaries with a tiny stake in them, is likely to disappear in the near future.The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced on April 24 that, among the 57 South Korean
As Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group are carrying out corporate governance structure reform in earnest, rumors about possible mergers between affiliates and business reorganization are resurfacing. Market experts say Samsung Group will push ahead with mergers between Samsung SDI Co. and Samsung
A lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party has proposed an amendment to the Certified Public Accountant Act to facilitate mergers among smaller accounting companies.The proposal, presented by Rep. Park Yong-jin, calls for allowing a small and medium-sized accounting firm that takes the form of a li
During a press conference on April 1, Kwon Oh-jun, chairman of POSCO Co. which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, stressed that POSCO needs new business other than steel in order to leap toward greater 50 years ahead. He said, “We cannot last 100 years with steel business alone. We should ma
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will totally revises the Fair Trade Act enacted in the industrialization era of the 1980s. This is because the commission judged that in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, the current competition law system would not be able to establish and nurture future new
Major Korean companies such as LG, Samsung, and SK are accelerating their moves such as their investments in the business of electronic devices for future cars.According to industry sources on March 12, LG Chem is preparing to build a battery plant at its Michigan plant in response to GM's move to e
A limited liability company (LLC) with a certain amount of sales and a considerable number of employees is required to conduct an external audit from the 2020 fiscal year. Accordingly, foreign LLCs operating in South Korea, which haven’t disclosed their accurate sales or profits such as Google, Appl
Lotte Group has completely removed its cross-shareholding relations, whose number once reached 750,000, in three years. As Chairman Shin Dong-bin was handed a suspended prison sentence, the group is also accelerating the stabilization of its holding company system.According to Lotte Group on January