Announcement of Changes in Affiliates of Large Corporate Groups
[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Kakao has increased its subsidiaries by the largest number, adding 8 affiliates over the past three months (May 1 to July 31). During this period, large business groups were active in acquiring shares and establishing companies in sectors such as transportation, healthcare, and fashion & beauty.
According to the Fair Trade Commission's "Status of Changes in Large Business Group Affiliates" on the 2nd, 35 large business groups newly incorporated 71 subsidiaries into their groups over the past three months, while 28 groups excluded 71 companies from their affiliates during the same period. As a result, the total number of large business group affiliates remained unchanged at 2,886 as of the 31st of last month.
The group that increased its subsidiaries the most was Kakao. Kakao newly incorporated 8 companies into its corporate group: ▲Why Not Me Production ▲Neogen Soft ▲With Ones ▲OOTV ▲KM Park ▲Sandwich Time ▲Seoul Arena ▲Beagle. Following Kakao, Hanwha added 5, Kolon 4, and KG 4 subsidiaries. The groups with the most companies excluded were LG (12), Kakao (10), and Kumho Asiana (7), in that order.
The notable trend in large business group changes during this period was active share acquisitions and company establishments in transportation, healthcare, and fashion & beauty sectors.
SK acquired Seoul Airport Limousine, an airport bus company; Kakao acquired KM Park, a parking lot operator; and LS newly established LS E-Link, an electric vehicle charging company. LG newly founded Fitness Candy, a home fitness content company; Lotte established Lotte Healthcare, a health management solution company, and Lotte Biologics, a pharmaceutical manufacturer. Kolon acquired KOA, a fashion manufacturer; and Aekyung acquired One Thing, a cosmetics manufacturer.
Business structure reorganization through mergers and acquisitions among similar business affiliates within corporate groups was also carried out to expand business capabilities and improve management efficiency.
Lotte merged Lotte Food, an ice cream manufacturer, into Lotte Confectionery, a snack manufacturer, and merged advertising agency MobiJat Media into its affiliate advertising agency M-Hub. Kakao merged Neogen Soft, a healthcare platform company it acquired, into Kakao Healthcare, and merged Why Not Me Production, a webtoon and web novel production company, into its related affiliate Samyang C&C.
There were also many cases where affiliates were excluded from corporate groups due to recognition of independent management by family members or executives.
Twelve companies including LX Holdings under LG and seven companies including Samhwa Express under Kumho Asiana were excluded from LG and Kumho Asiana respectively due to independent management by family members. One company, Sejin Construction under Joongheung Construction, and two companies, HC No.16 (Ltd.) under Nongshim, were recognized for independent family management and separated from Joongheung Construction and Nongshim respectively.
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