Singapore Inflation Stays Muted in May as Core CPI Misses Forecasts Ahead of MAS Review 
South Korea’s KOSPI Rebounds as Samsung and SK Hynix Lead Tech Stock Recovery 
U.S. Dollar Reaches One-Year High as Tech Sell-Off and Fed Rate Hike Expectations Support Demand 
Australia Inflation Cools in May, But Core CPI Keeps RBA Rate Hike Risks Alive 
Tencent Reviews Marvelous Stake as Gaming Giant Reassesses Global Investment Strategy 
Oil Prices Slip as Iran Sanctions Relief and Hormuz Shipping Recovery Ease Supply Concerns 
Alphabet Replaces Verizon in Dow Jones Industrial Average 
Samsung Electronics Stock Surges on Report of Massive $59 Billion Share Buyback Plan 
Wall Street Slides as AI Stocks Tumble Following South Korea Tech Sell-Off 
Oil Prices Drop as Strait of Hormuz Shipping Recovers 
Wall Street Ends Mixed as Tech Stocks Struggle Ahead of Micron Earnings 
Alibaba Shares Fall After Anthropic Alleges Massive AI Model Distillation Campaign 
Yen Near 40-Year Low as USD/JPY Approaches Key 162 Level, Raising Intervention Concerns 
Malaysia Central Bank Moves to Support Ringgit Amid Foreign Fund Outflows 
BOJ Hawk Signals Faster Interest Rate Hikes Amid Inflation Risks 
Doncasters Raises $919 Million in NYSE IPO as Aerospace Growth Accelerates 
Japan Manufacturing Growth Accelerates in June as Orders Surge Despite Iran War Cost Pressures 
Daewoo E&C labor union is planning to ask the Board of Audit and Inspection to investigate Lee Dong Gull, chairman of Korea Development Bank (KDB), and Lee Dae Hyun, KDB’s investment chief executive officer for possible malpractice.
The union’s request for a probe
The union at Daewoo Engineering & Construction thinks that the said executives had committed offenses when they selected Jungheung Construction as the preferred bidder for the company’s acquisition. Aside from the Board of Audit, the workers are also asking other agencies to check on KDB’s investment decision that was announced on Monday, July 5, The Korea Times reported.
"KDB Investment committed fraud by allowing Jungheung to lower its bid by 200 billion won ($176 million) from the 2.3 trillion won it initially offered after the bidder threatened to drop out unless the seller allowed this," the union said in a statement released Tuesday. "The decision was obvious malpractice."
It was mentioned that Daewoo also refused to reveal the exact price that Jungheung offered and KDB Investment also allowed the buyer to reduce the amount of its bid from ₩2.3 trillion won or $2 billion to just ₩2.1 trillion.
As a result of the drop in the bid, it was reported that a consortium made up of three companies - DS Network, a real estate developer, SkyLake Equity Partners, and IPM, an infrastructure investor, was forced to increase its bid from ₩1.8 trillion to ₩2 trillion. This consortium was picked to be the backup-bidder.
The union is planning to go on strike to protest Jungheung’s acquisition of Daewoo E&C. the group of workers will do what they can to stop Jungheung from conducting due diligence on the construction company.
"Jungheung committed an elementary-level mistake of offering a price which was 500 billion won higher than that its competitor offered, and it disrupted the bidding procedure by threatening the seller," the labor union explained. "It disrupted the fair competition."
KDB’s response to the allegation
The Korea Herald reported earlier this week that KDB Investment selected Jungheung Group as the preferred bidder to buy Daewoo E&C. Apparently, Jungheung outbid the consortium of investors, and this outcome led the union to protest.
Now KDB Investment refuted the allegations hurled by the union. It explained that the final bidders were allowed to modify their bids from the start. The company’s CEO then pointed out that revisions in bidding do not mean a "re-bidding," so there was no malpractice in the process.
