Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Choi Hyun-man of Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities Co.

Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Choi Hyun-man of Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities Co.

Mirae Asset Daewoo invested 500 billion won in its Hong Kong affiliate to increase its capital with funds the company got from the sale of its shares in its British subsidiary to prepare for Brexit, the company said on Jan. 17.

Capital of the Hong Kong subsidiary will rise from 1.443,8 trillion won to around 2 trillion won when the move is completed.
The capital of British subsidiary will be reduced to 315.3 billion won from 651.3 billion won when the sale of the 300 million of its shares is completed.

Officials of Mirae Asset Daewoo said uncertainty in the EU market has been rising due to Brexit, while the diverse business chances in Hong Kong have been growing. But the organization and manpower at the British subsidiary would remain the same, especially, in the trading sector, despite the reduction of its capital, they said.

Mirae Asset Daewoo took over a new logistics center being run by Amazon, the largest e-commerce firm in the world, for $78 million on Dec. 26 from its owner, USA Real Estate Co.

The distribution center is located in Atlanta, Georgia, on a lot some 99,000 square meters large built by the real estate company in July 2018 and leased it to Amazon for 15 years with the right to extend the lease for additional 25 years.
The local subsidiary of the Korean securities firm will sell the stake to the institutional and individual investors later.
Global insurer Allianz already agreed to acquire part of the stakes, it added.

The brokerage has been an active player acquiring promising real estate assets at home and abroad. It recently acquired stakes in Four Seasons Hawaii and other prime assets in the U.S.

“Mirae Asset has successfully concluded a series of blue-chip deals lately, receiving a stream of quality offers from global investment banks.” Mirae Asset Daewoo U.S. body head Woo Youn-kwang said.

“We will continue looking for other investment opportunities in the U.S. by using the firm's differentiated networks.”
Mirae Asset Daewoo is the nation's largest securities and investment bank firm by market capitalization. It currently has approximately 9 percent of the Korean brokerage market in terms both of trading value and commissions.
Mirae Asset Daewoo Co. is planning what would be the first-ever offshore bond by a South Korean brokerage amid a push by authorities to make local securities firms more competitive on the international stage.

Korea’s biggest brokerage by assets is meeting investors in Asia and Europe this week for the debt sale, according to a person familiar with the matter. It’s becoming more active overseas, taking part in a $150 million bridge loan to a Las Vegas resort recently and investing $300 million in April to fund a group’s purchase of a Hong Kong skyscraper owned by Li Ka-shing.

The Korean government started saying in the early 2010’s that it wants to create what it calls a ‘Goldman Sachs of Korea’ and it’s encouraging brokerages to expand their global clout, as a crowded securities industry at home weighs on profits.

 Those efforts have led to rapid growth among the largest brokerages, helping spark a 52.1 percent increase in the sector’s combined assets in the past five years to 411 trillion won ($362 billion), a faster pace of gains than the banking and insurance industries.

Given the very high level of competition in the domestic market, Korean securities firms are interested in expanding overseas, which would lead to demand for offshore funding.” said Tae Jong Ok, a financial institutions analyst at Moody’s Investors Service. “Mirae Asset is the most advanced in overseas expansion among Korean securities firms.”

A nightly view of the Mirae Asset Daewoo building in Seoul. (Photos: Mirae Asset Daewoo)