S. Korea’s M&A deals halved in 2022 on rising interest rates

[Source : Gettyimagesbank]

South Korea’s mergers and acquisitions halved in 2022 from a year ago with a sharp drop in deals worth more than 1 trillion won ($793 million) as interest rates surged.

The total value of M&A transactions in Korea reached 39.4 trillion won this year, according to data compiled by Maeil Business Newspaper. The figure, which includes M&A deals worth 5 billion won or more, is a 45 percent drop from a year ago.

There were only eight large M&A deals worth 1 trillion won or more this year, falling 47 percent from a year ago.

Although the M&A market this year contracted sharply amid interest rate hikes and other unfavorable conditions, the market is expected to recover next year with corporate restructuring going into full swing, said Park Dae-joon of Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In this year’s M&A league table, Credit Suisse ranked the top for advising on the acquisition of corporate management rights, Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers in financial consulting, Kim & Chang in legal consulting, and KB Securities in equity and bond market consulting.