Fair Trade Commission Ahead of Decision on 'Baemin-Yogiyo' Corporate Merger... Forum on 'Competition-Restrictive M&A in New Industries and Countermeasures'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), in collaboration with the Korean Law and Economics Association, held an academic forum on the 20th at the Fair Trade Mediation Agency on the theme of "Competition-Restrictive Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) in New Industry Sectors and Countermeasures."

In his congratulatory remarks, Chairman Cho Sung-wook of the KFTC stated, "Amid the global economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of non-face-to-face culture, companies are actively engaging in M&A in new industry sectors to enhance management efficiency and acquire new technologies," adding, "We are paying close attention to and responding to competition-restrictive M&A in new industry sectors."

He continued, "There is a possibility that large existing companies with significant market dominance may preemptively eliminate startups with growth potential through M&A, which could hinder competition in the market," emphasizing, "We will thoroughly review M&A that restrict competition and communicate with academia and industry to understand market conditions and issues."

The academic forum was divided into two sessions: "Structure of Innovation Markets and Corporate Merger Review" and "Use of Personal Information and Corporate Mergers." In the first session, Professor Kwak Joo-won of Kyungpook National University analyzed merger cases in innovation markets and the criteria for reviewing corporate mergers in innovation markets under the theme "Corporate Mergers in Innovation Markets." Kang Sun-hee, head of the Corporate Transactions Fair Trade Team at Gyeonggi Provincial Government, analyzed major M&A cases of platform companies and considerations regarding information monopoly in corporate merger reviews under the theme "Consideration of the Impact of Information Monopoly in the Review of Platform Companies' Mergers."

In the second session, Dr. Kim Eun-soo from the Asia-Pacific Law Research Institute at Seoul National University and Dr. Moon Byung-soon from KT Management and Economic Research Institute presented on "The Meaning and Role of Personal Information Regulation Regarding Platform Monopoly" and "Consideration of Big Data in Corporate Merger Reviews: From the Perspective of the Personal Information Protection Act," respectively.

A KFTC official stated, "Taking this academic forum as an opportunity, we plan to continue communication with stakeholders and experts regarding the review of M&A in new industry sectors and actively respond to new competition issues in the field based on this."

Meanwhile, according to Delivery Hero (DH), the KFTC Secretariat (equivalent to the prosecution) expressed the opinion that it could approve the DH-Woowa Brothers (Baedal Minjok) corporate merger if DH sells 'Yogiyo.' The KFTC plans to make a final decision on the corporate merger through a plenary meeting once DH submits its opinion letter on this matter.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.