Chaebol deals push up M&A values

Both the number and the value of corporate merger and acquisitions deals rose significantly during the first half of this year, driven by mega deals such as the 8.9 trillion won ($7.5 billion) agreement between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T.

The Fair Trade Commission, a state agency that has the power to approve and disapprove such deals, said on Thursday that a total of 313 corporate M&As took place during first half of this year, with a total estimated value of around 127.7 trillion won.

This compares with 286 deals worth 88.1 trillion won during the same period a year ago.

While the number of M&As has increased modestly, their value has jumped by 45 percent amid a wealth of deals among chaebol affiliates this year, the FTC said.

Of the 313 M&As, 249 were domestic with their total value around 39.4 trillion won.

There were 64 mergers of multinational companies with a value of about 88.3 trillion won.

Domestic mergers are defined as deals led or by domestic firms, while foreign merger refers to those led by a foreign firm.

The value of domestic mergers jumped by 218 percent year-on-year as mergers between major corporations and financial companies increased. Domestic M&As were also led by the electronics and financial sectors.

Mega deals included the merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, worth 8.9 trillion won; SK C&C and SK Holdings, worth 6.3 trillion won; and Korea Exchange Bank and Hana Bank, worth 3.3 trillion won.

The value of multinational deals rose by 16.6 percent to 88.3 trillion won.

BY PARK JUNG-YOUN [park.jungyoun@joongang.co.kr]