April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Corporate mergers and acquisitions by Korean firms fell sharply in the first six months of the year due to a higher base effect last year, the antitrust watchdog said on Aug. 22.

The value of reported M&As involving local companies reached 21.6 trillion won (US$19.30 billion) in the first half of the year, much lower than the 41.5 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the Fair Trade Commission.

The number of merger cases rose to 266 from 215 over the cited period, it added.

Last year, there were many big deals valued over 1 trillion won. But the FTC said large business groups sought mergers among their affiliates as part of efforts to realign their business portfolios, with the value of such M&As hitting 16.5 trillion won in the January-June period, compared with 15.3 trillion won a year earlier.

M&As intended to expand new business areas reached 1.8 trillion won in the first half, sharply down from 10.4 trillion won a year earlier, according to the watchdog.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)