Korea M&A Corporation

Has M&A frenzy returned to the Seoul corporate market? The answer may be yes if you look at the latest development in Korea’s corporate landscape, where a growing number of local companies are rushing to sell some of their subsidiaries as part of the government-forced corporate restructuring drive. But it remains to be seen whether the latest fire-sale drive will be met with enough demands from ..

Opposition in China is building to a deal in which US private equity group TPG plans to sell its controlling stake in a Chinese bank to Ping An Insurance, the country's second-largest insurer, for a profit of more than 150 per cent. Ping An plans to pay at least $1.68bn for TPG's 17 per cent controlling stake in Shenzhen Development Bank and buy up to $1.57bn in new shares from SDB to give it a ..

SEOUL, June 11 (Reuters) - Stocks on the move on Thursday include: As of 0301, the main KOSPI was up 0.9 percent at 1,427.67 points. The index opened 0.21 percent lower at 1,411.92 points. **DAUM COMM UP ON M&A RUMOURS** Shares in Daum Communications jumped on rumours that NCSoft Corp would buy the Internet portal operator, though spokespeople from both companies denied the talk. The Korea Excha..

SUSIE GHARIB: The recession is taking a huge toll on mergers and acquisitions around the globe. M&A activity is off by more than 35 percent this year. But it's a much different story for one company. Lucy Craft looks at a Japanese firm that still has a buyer's appetite. LUCY CRAFT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: A salty aroma wafts through medieval archways of Noda City, east of Tokyo. W..

In Asia Pacific, nowhere are the stakes in BlackRock's $13.5 billion acquisition of Barclays Global Investors bigger than in Japan. BlackRock will be buying a franchise that is the biggest manager of corporate pension money, as well as a significant manager of public fund assets. BGI's business model, however, is generic and already replicated by domestic trust banks, which can be expected to po..

As oil prices rebound past $ 70 per barrel, China's three major oil companies, PetroChina, SinoPec and CNOOC, are stepping up their overseas M&A activities before the prices return to $100 per barrel. PetroChina and CNOOC are seeking to acquire 30% of Ghana’s Jubilee oil field from owner Kosmos Energy Corporation (Kosmos). Although CNOOC itself is unwilling to disclose its offering price, indust..

When a commodity that is put up for sale has a number of interested buyers, trade should build up as long as the price remains reasonable. That's the story of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB). U.S.-based hedge fund Loan Star has been trying to dispose of its 51-percent stake in the lender for the past few years. Loan Star's attempts have failed for some reason, but interest in KEB is starting to heat u..

Sompo Japan, the country’s second-largest non-life insurer, is taking a 50 per cent stake in Brazil’s Maritima Seguros for Y14.4bn ($151m), its largest overseas investment. Sompo Japan’s move, which will make it Maritima’s largest shareholder, highlights the rush by Japanese financial institutions to build a global presence in the face of a saturated market and shrinking population at home. Toki..

Shearman & Sterling LLP is representing Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd (Tengzhong) on its proposed acquisition of Hummer from General Motors Corp. (GM). Tengzhong, a major industrial machinery group, will acquire the rights to the Hummer brand, along with a senior management and operational team. As part of the deal Tengzhong will assume existing dealer agreements relating..

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, June 8 (Reuters) - Shares of China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS)(0670.HK) and smaller Shanghai Airlines (600591.SS) were suspended on Monday after media said the two loss-making carriers were close to a merger deal. Shanghai Air Vice President Feng Xin told the South China Morning Post the two Shanghai-based carriers got instruction from the government to consolidate their ass..

Tsingtao Beer, China's second largest brewer, said yesterday it would buy Jinan Beer, a beer producer from Shandong province, for 250 million yuan ($36.66 million). Analysts said the move was a way to fend off archrival Snow in the fight for the nation's beer market. Tsingtao said it had signed a contract with Shandong Commercial Group to buy its subsidiary, which has an annual beer output of 30..

Jun. 9, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Sinopec, the largest refiner in Asia by capacity, reportedly hopes to purchase a 100% stake in Canada-based Addax Petroleum Corp, which is engaged in the oil and gas businesses in Africa and selected countries in the Middle East, for up to US$8 billion, the South China Morning Post reported on Jun. 8. Su Shulin, board chairman of Sinopec, has mentioned that the f..

The global mining group Rio Tinto dropped part of its proposed tie with metals giant Chinalco on Friday following objections in Britain and Australia. The deal could have given the Chinese an 18% stake in Rio Tinto Group, which is listed on both the British and Australian markets. It would also have given the Chinese company access to Rio’s iron ore, copper, and aluminium assets. “If the Chinalc..

Will third time be luck for the Chinese digital media entertainment provider Hurray? After failing at two previous attempts to be bought, the Nasdaq-traded company has received a new offer from Shanda (NSDQ: SNDA), the online gaming biggie in China, for a majority stake. Under the proposal, Shanda will commence a tender offer to acquire 51 percent, at $4.00 per ADS, which means a total deal valu..

PARIS, June 8 (Reuters) - Japanese bank Nomura (8604.T), which acquired some of the main businesses of failed Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers last year, is targeting a top 10 spot in the league tables for working on French mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Nomura France Joint President Jerome Calvet told reporters at a news briefing on Monday that "in the long run," Nomura would aim for a top fiv..

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Reuters) - The Malaysian unit of Danish brewer Carlsberg is taking advantage of the current economic downturn to hunt for an acquisition target in Asia, the head of the unit said on Tuesday. "We are at the stage of doing analysis on certain opportunities. The board has given us a time frame to identify some opportunities," said Soren Jensen, managing director of Carlsberg..

HONG KONG -- A Hong Kong appeals court Wednesday rejected the US$2.1 billion management-led buyout of telecom company PCCW Ltd., handing regulators in this Asian financial center a significant victory after facing months of criticism for what shareholder activists called weak corporate governance standards. PCCW and the buyout group, led by PCCW Chairman Richard Li, said they will consider wheth..

China is reviewing Coca-Cola Co's (KO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) $2.5 billion bid to acquire China Huiyuan Juice Group (1886.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) under the anti-monopoly law, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Tuesday. Coca-Cola said in December it had filed an application for anti-trust approval of its proposed purchase of China's top juice maker, and the case is being closely wat..

China National Petroleum Corp has agreed to buy Canada's Verenex Energy Inc, including its Libyan oil assets, in a deal worth 499 million Canadian dollars (400 million US dollars), the Calgary-based company said. The Chinese company's international arm, CNPC International Ltd, in an all cash deal, offered 10 Canadian dollars (7.97 US dollars) per share, a 28 percent premium on the company's clos..

Wing Hang Bank Ltd. (0302.HK) said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that China Life Insurance Co. (LFC) and the Fung family aren't proceeding with an acquisition of Wing Hang Bank shares from Bank of New York. The statement comes after Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission said China Life had proposed buying 10% of Wing Hang Bank from a Bank of New York unit last year. The Bank of New ..

Bids for American International Group's(AIG Quote - Cramer on AIG - Stock Picks) Asian arm are due Friday and a number of prospective bidders, including HSBC Holdings(HBC Quote - Cramer on HBC - Stock Picks) and AXA SA have abandoned the process and no further bids may be forthcoming, the Wall Street Journal reports. AIG initially intended to sell 49% of American International Assurance, which i..

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it struck a deal to sell its venture capital business to a group led by the unit's management team and investment firm HarbourVest Partners. The price was not disclosed. The unit will be renamed Tenaya Capital and will have $750 million under management and about 45 portfolio companies. Lehman Brothers filed for ba..

Australia's Fortescue Metals Ltd. will reportedly sell A$558 million ($361.4 million)in new shares to China's Hunan Valin Iron & Steel, according to a Dow Jones Newswire report. Valin will purchase 225 million new shares issued by the miner at A$2.48 a share. In a separate development, the Chinese company will purchase 275 million existing shares from a current Fortescue shareholder, Fortescue w..

A group of Japanese companies led by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Toshiba Corp. will buy a stake in Canada’s Uranium One Inc., gaining access to the miner’s output. Uranium One agreed to sell a stake worth about C$270 million ($221 million), or C$2.30 a share, to the venture, Japan Uranium Management Inc, the miner said in a statement on its Web site. The group, which includes the Japan Bank for..

Telstra Corp., Australia’s largest telephone company, bought controlling stakes in two Chinese firms for a total of as much as A$302 million ($198 million), expanding in the world’s fastest-growing Internet market. Telstra acquired 67 percent stakes in each of China M, a provider of mobile-content, and Sharp Point, which offers services for online music businesses, the Melbourne-based company sa..

Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Elpida Memory Inc., Japan’s largest computer-memory chipmaker, has begun merger talks with Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. and two other Taiwanese semiconductor companies to counter a glut that’s widening industry losses. “Ideally, the four companies should come together as one,” Yukio Sakamoto, chief executive officer of Tokyo-based Elpida, said in an interview after confir..

Sina Corp., a Chinese-language Web portal operator, is venturing outside the Internet to scoop up valuable advertising real estate in office buildings, malls and airports with its $1 billion-plus acquisition of a big chunk of Focus Media Holding Ltd.'s business. Shares of both companies dived on fears that Sina is piling too much on top of its core business, and that Focus Media (nasdaq: FMCN - ..

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia Bhd (AIRA.KL) is in talks to merge with the budget carrier of Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd (QAN.AX), a Malaysian newspaper reported on Tuesday citing an unnamed source. The possible merger between AirAsia and Jetstar could involve a share swap and would help the carriers cope with the impact of slowing demand worldwide as the ..

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. insurer American International Group (AIG.N) said on Wednesday that it would halt the merger between its two Japanese life insurers, AIG Star Life Insurance and AIG Edison Life Insurance. AIG, once the world's largest insurer, said in October that it would postpone the merger between AIG Star and AIG Edison, which was originally scheduled to take place on January 1, 2009. ..

By Kevin Chen STAFF REPORTER, WITH BLOOMBERG Friday, Dec 26, 2008, Page 12 AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), on course to post record losses, said they are open to mergers with rival liquid-crystal-display makers to restore profitability. AU Optronics, Taiwan’s largest LCD maker, will consider all proposals beneficial to shareholders, spokeswoman Hsiao Ya-wen..