South Korea’s Weak Won Struggles as Retail Investors Pour Money Into U.S. Stocks 
Trump Administration Sued Over Suspension of Critical Hudson River Tunnel Funding 
SoftBank Shares Slide After Arm Earnings Miss Fuels Tech Stock Sell-Off 
Australian Scandium Project Backed by Richard Friedland Poised to Support U.S. Critical Minerals Stockpile 
Stephen Miran Resigns as White House Economic Adviser Amid Federal Reserve Tenure 
Dollar Steadies Ahead of ECB and BoE Decisions as Markets Turn Risk-Off 
Australia’s December Trade Surplus Expands but Falls Short of Expectations 
Dollar Steady as Fed Nomination and Japanese Election Shape Currency Markets 
Prudential Financial Reports Higher Q4 Profit on Strong Underwriting and Investment Gains 
Alphabet’s Massive AI Spending Surge Signals Confidence in Google’s Growth Engine 
US-India Trade Bombshell: Tariffs Slashed to 18% — Rupee Soars, Sensex Explodes 
Nasdaq Proposes Fast-Track Rule to Accelerate Index Inclusion for Major New Listings 
Novo Nordisk Warns of Profit Decline as Wegovy Faces U.S. Price Pressure and Rising Competition 
Boeing Signals Progress on Delayed 777X Program With Planned April First Flight 
Asian Currencies Trade Sideways as Dollar Stabilizes, Yen Weakens Ahead of Japan Election 
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering 
Asian Markets Wobble as AI Fears Rattle Stocks, Oil and Gold Rebound 
SK Group is investing in Japan so it can acquire parts and component suppliers for its businesses. According to the report, the companies affiliates that include SKC, SK Siltron, SK Holdings Inc. and SK Materials, will be chipping in to come up with the ₩400 billion funds for its investment firm in the land of the rising sun.
SK to form a Japanese firm
As per The Korea Times, each company will contribute ₩100 billion and the funds will be used to form SK Japan Investment. This new firm’s goal is to acquire Japanese companies that supply industrial materials. In this way, SK’s will be able to source materials easily and overall strengthen the firms.
"The collective investment is primarily aimed at exploring the best possible chances of strengthening the group's core strengths in industrial materials and components by acquiring firms in Japan, if necessary," an industry executive told the outlet through the phone. “SK is on track to find strategic and financial investors to establish a matching fund in Japan to hedge its investment risk and raise its bar in acquisitions.”
It was added that as part of the investment scheme, SK Group is also eyeing partnerships with Japanese major banks such as Mizuho Bank Ltd. Apparently, the South Korean conglomerate is interested in striking a deal with Mizuho so it can be its Japanese investment partner. In any case, SK Hynix was also approached to be part of this investment plan in Japan but it reportedly declined.
The SK Group’s set up for the investment
Yonhap News Agency reported that once the company is established in Japan, the four SK Group affiliates that contributed to the investment will each own a 25% stake. They will be mostly taking part in businesses and projects that are largely related to sustainability and the environment.
Meanwhile, the news outlet mentioned that SK Japan Investment is still a tentative name for the joint business of four SK affiliates. As soon as more details about the new company are available and a name has been finalized, the firm will be releasing this information for the public to know.
