While Microsoft Corp has just struck partnership deals with two small software companies in Jinan, China to promote domestic sales of their software using Windows, the software giant has lost its bid to buy out Korean word processing outfit, Hangul & Computer Co (CI No 3,447), according to Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper. The Korean Venture Business Association told Hangul to immediately stop negotiations with Microsoft, which would have seen the US company investing between $10m and $20m in the company in return for it discontinuing the development of Korea’s most widely used word processing programs, Ah Rae Ah Hangul. Hangul is currently experiencing financial problems and had tentatively agreed on the Microsoft investment, which would have meant a massive boost for Word in the region. But now the Venture Business Association has said it plans to invest $7.3m into the ailing company by purchasing newly-issued shares or convertible bonds, and Hangul will use the money to alleviate its debts. The association has said that Korea’s venture capital firms now plan to raise an additional $51m to inject new funding into Hangul.
