EcoPro, seven groups added to conglomerate list by Korea’s antitrust agency

EcoPro Group logo [Courtesy of EcoPro Group]

Eight new business groups, including battery materials player EcoPro Group and LX Group have been added to the list of conglomerates subject to filing this year, bringing about major changes in the South Korean business scene.

According to the Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday, LX, EcoPro, Koryo HC, Global Sae-A, DN, Hansol, Sampyo and BGF have been newly added to the list of conglomerates subject to filing and will be under tighter supervision from May 1.

There are 82 business groups this year, up from 76 last year, and the number of companies under the groups reached 3,076, up 190 from 2,886 last year. It is the first time for the entire affiliated companies of the business groups to exceed 3,000.

The FTC plans to designate 48 business groups with 10 trillion won ($7.5 billion) or more in assets as those subject to the prohibition of cross-investments, up from 47 last year.

Three groups, including retail giant Coupang Corp., were added to the list while two others including Kyobo Life Insurance Co. were removed as their assets fell below the 10 trillion won threshold.

Under the law, business groups with assets of 5 trillion won or more are required to disclose their businesses while those with assets of 10 trillion won or more fall under a stricter category such as a prohibition on cross-shareholding.

The FTC analyzed that the growth of new businesses such as electric vehicles and a rise in shipping charges affected the designations this year.

Among the 8 business groups that have been newly added to the conglomerates subject to filing, EcoPro, Koryo HC, Global Sae-A and DN saw their total assets surge by more than 2 trillion won from a year ago.

EcoPro Group and DN Group, which manufactures dust proof components for EVs, saw their assets go up by 59 percent and 76 percent, respectively, this year.

On the other hand, Kyobo Life Insurance and Dunamu Inc., dedicated to insurance and virtual asset businesses respectively, were removed from the list as they were affected by a rise in interest rates that pulled down the value of their bond holdings.

LX, which separated from LG Group two years ago, ranked as the 44th-largest conglomerate with total assets worth 11.3 trillion won.

The top five business groups by assets were Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG and POSCO. Lotte, which had been the fifth-largest conglomerate in Korea since 2010, was pushed to No. 6.