Large Corporations Acquiring Semiconductor and Secondary Battery Companies... 8 Affiliates in Three Months

Fair Trade Commission Investigates Changes in Large Group Affiliates
10 Real Estate Subsidiaries Added...17 Removed 'Active'
SK Adds 6 New Subsidiaries 'Most'...Nongshim Removes 10 Companies

It has been revealed that large corporations have increased their number of affiliates by 8 in advanced industry sectors such as semiconductors and secondary batteries over the past three months.

According to the "Changes in Subsidiaries of Large Business Groups (conglomerates with assets exceeding 5 trillion KRW) over the Last 3 Months (November 2023 to January 2024)" announced by the Korea Fair Trade Commission on the 6th, the number of subsidiaries under large business groups decreased by 41, from 3,084 to 3,043, over the three-month period.

The reasons for affiliate inclusion were company establishment (22 new companies, 6 spin-offs), and equity acquisition (16 companies), resulting in 49 companies being added as affiliates across 27 groups. Meanwhile, 90 companies were excluded from affiliation across 41 groups due to mergers and acquisitions (30 companies), equity sales (14 companies), and liquidation closures (19 companies).

The groups with the highest number of newly included affiliates were SK (6 companies), Hyundai Motor (4 companies), and Hanwha, LS, and DL (3 companies each). The groups with the most excluded companies were Nongshim (10 companies), SK and Kakao (8 companies each), and Boseong (5 companies).

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During this period, active equity acquisitions to expand business capabilities in advanced industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and biotechnology led to the inclusion of 8 companies from 4 groups as affiliates. SK acquired ISC, a semiconductor test equipment parts company, resulting in the simultaneous inclusion of its subsidiaries ISCM, ITMC, and Prowell.

Hyundai Motor included Mobient and Techgen, manufacturers of automotive modules and key components; LS established LSL&F Battery Solution, a precursor material company for secondary battery cathodes; and Lotte acquired Teragen Health, a genetic testing company.

In the real estate development, management, and construction sectors, affiliate inclusion and exclusion were active. Ten companies from eight groups were included as affiliates, such as Shinsegae Property Investment, a real estate investment company established and operated by Shinsegae, NS Partners, a developer and supplier of officetels and non-residential buildings under DL, and STX Construction Industry, a real estate development company under SM.

Seventeen companies from twelve groups were excluded as affiliates, including Lotte Tech D&D of Lotte, Seosan Techno Valley of Hanwha, K-Global Private Real Estate Investment Company No. 2 of GS, and Plus Two Percent of Kakao.

Following the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Fair Trade Act, permanent exclusion of ‘industry-academic-research cooperation technology holding companies and their subsidiaries’ from business groups became possible, resulting in the exclusion of 10 companies from 6 groups, including Samsung’s Sungkyunkwan University Technology Holding, POSCO’s Pohang University of Science and Technology Technology Holding, and HD Hyundai’s Ulsan University Technology Holding.

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