Venture Week Kicks Off with 'M&A Conference'

Proportion of M&A Transactions Involving Small and Venture Companies Continues to Rise

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on November 26 that it held the "2025 M&A Conference" at KINTEX in Ilsan. The M&A Conference, which began in 2016 and marks its ninth year in 2025, serves as a networking platform for ecosystem participants such as small and venture companies seeking mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as well as M&A intermediaries and advisory organizations.

This year's M&A Conference was especially significant as the opening event of the 1st Venture Week. It provided an opportunity to review the status of M&A activities among domestic small and venture companies over the past three years and to discuss the Ministry's achievements in supporting M&A and its future plans. In March, the Ministry launched a public-private partnership M&A platform to support small and venture company M&As, and last month, it successfully completed its first brokerage contract.

On the 26th, key guests participated in the ceremony and commemorative photo session at the "2025 1st Venture Week M&A Conference" held at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

During the conference, the results of an analysis of the domestic small and venture company M&A landscape over the past three years were presented. The proportion of M&A transactions involving small and venture companies has continued to increase. Samil PwC, which presented the M&A status, analyzed that despite economic uncertainties, M&A deals by small and venture companies seeking new growth engines have been consistently taking place. The conference also featured presentations on policy directions for business succession M&As and on successful M&A case studies. The case studies were presented by advisory organizations acting as intermediaries, with the CEOs of both acquiring and selling companies also in attendance.

In addition to facilitating M&A transactions and providing M&A guarantee support through the public-private partnership platform, the Ministry has established a new M&A fund this year to support business succession for small companies. It is also preparing special legislation to ensure that there are no obstacles to third-party business succession through M&As. Han Sung-sook, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "M&As by small and venture companies are crucial for enhancing corporate competitiveness and revitalizing the exit market. In an aging society, they also serve as an important business succession strategy," adding, "The Ministry will focus its policy capabilities on supporting the activation of M&As among small and venture companies."

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