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Yulchon Secures Korean and Japanese Merger Clearances for Kakao Corp. and Kakao Entertainment’s Acquisition of SM Entertainment

2024.04.24.

Yulchon represented the Korean internet platform conglomerate Kakao Corporation and its affiliate Kakao Entertainment in the merger reviews conducted by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) and the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) for their acquisition of approximately 40% of SM Entertainment.


Yulchon successfully secured the KFTC’s conditional clearance and the JFTC’s unconditional clearance for the transaction.


Kakao Entertainment, Korea’s leading provider of music production and distribution services, owns the Korean music streaming giant Melon, while SM Entertainment is a leading Korean music production company.


The acquisition impacts multiple product and service markets within the entertainment industry. The KFTC focused primarily on the vertical overlaps in the pop music production, distribution, and platform markets.


Yulchon conducted thorough legal assessments of relevant markets and competition effects, engaged in multiple face-to-face meetings with KFTC officials, and promptly responded to the KFTC’s extensive data requests. By efficiently collecting and collating necessary data using advanced technical capabilities and leveraging our deep understanding of the entertainment industry, Yulchon effectively addressed the KFTC’s concerns and obtained conditional clearance for the transaction.


Yulchon also successfully managed the merger notification process with the JFTC through close and effective collaboration with its Japanese co-counsel, ultimately securing an unconditional clearance.


This success once again highlights Yulchon's exceptional capabilities in handling merger notifications both domestically and internationally. It follows Yulchon’s recent recognition by GCR, a leading global publication in the field of competition law: Yulchon received multiple awards from GCR, including Matter of the Year for our representation of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard in Microsoft’s USD 70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and Merger Control Matter of the Year for our representation of VMware in its USD 61 billion sale to Broadcom.