Large Corporations Spent 15 Trillion on M&A in the First Half... Investment 'On the Rise'

SK Ecoplant Invests 2.0598 Trillion KRW in First Half, Ranking 1st
Top Group Company is SK Group... Followed by Netmarble, Shinsegae, CJ, LG

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] It has been revealed that the top 500 companies invested more than 15 trillion won in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the first half of this year. Since the spread of COVID-19 in 2019, M&A investment amounts have been on the rise. The M&A investment amount in the first half of this year has already surpassed the annual investment amounts of 2019 and 2020.

The company that invested the most in M&A this year is SK Ecoplant, recording 2.0598 trillion won (4 cases). By industry, construction and building materials companies had the highest M&A investment amount at 2.7779 trillion won. The company with the most M&A deals was Kakao, acquiring 13 companies.

Top 500 Companies Actively Engage in M&A Despite COVID-19 Spread... SK Group Leads in Investment Among Large Conglomerates

On the 14th, CEO Score, a corporate data research institute, announced that among the top 500 companies, 353 companies that submitted semi-annual reports this year conducted 87 M&A deals in the first half of the year. The total investment amount was calculated at 15.0357 trillion won.

The M&A investment amount in the first half of this year increased by 25.7% and 18.6% compared to the annual investment amounts of 2019 (11.9611 trillion won) and 2020 (12.6729 trillion won), respectively. It is 51.3% of last year's annual investment amount (29.3263 trillion won). CEO Score explained that despite the spread of COVID-19, the increase in investment is due to companies expanding into new businesses through M&A.

Looking at individual companies, SK Ecoplant invested the most in M&A in the first half of this year, spending a total of 2.0598 trillion won on 4 deals. SK Ecoplant acquired TES, a Singaporean electric and electronic waste company, for 1.3699 trillion won. It also acquired Samkang M&T (342.6 billion won), Clenco (215.1 billion won), and J.A. Green (132.2 billion won).

DL Chemical ranked second in M&A investment scale by acquiring the U.S. chemical company Creighton for 1.8643 trillion won. Korean Air ranked third in M&A investment scale as the acquisition of Asiana Airlines was postponed to this year. Korean Air spent a total of 1.8 trillion won on acquiring Asiana Airlines.

The company that conducted the most M&A deals in the first half of this year was Kakao, acquiring 13 companies (204 billion won). SK Ecoplant, LX International, SK, and Naver each acquired 4 companies, following behind. KG Chemical and SD Biosensor each acquired 3 companies.

By industry, construction and building materials companies had the highest M&A investment amount in the first half of this year at 2.7779 trillion won. This was followed by petrochemicals (2.5936 trillion won), distribution (2.5049 trillion won), transportation (1.8 trillion won), trading companies (1.5032 trillion won), and services (1.3541 trillion won).

Based on the 76 corporate groups designated by the Fair Trade Commission, SK Group invested the most with 3.1004 trillion won in 10 M&A deals in the first half of this year. DL Group (1.8643 trillion won, 1 deal), Hanjin Group (1.8 trillion won, 1 deal), and POSCO Group (1.1068 trillion won, 2 deals) also invested more than 1 trillion won.

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