Seoul: South Korea's antitrust regulator announced a decline in the number of mergers and acquisitions (M and As) reviewed in 2025 compared to the previous year, while the total value of these deals surged by nearly 30 percent, reflecting a rise in large-scale transactions.
According to Yonhap News Agency, data from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) revealed that the number of M and A cases reviewed decreased to 590 in 2025, a 26 percent drop from 798 cases in the prior year. Despite the reduction in the number of cases, the combined value of the M and As increased by 30 percent year-on-year, reaching 358.3 trillion won (approximately US$246.8 billion), indicating a trend toward larger corporate deals.
The FTC highlighted that merger activity was particularly prominent in industries related to the artificial intelligence (AI) value chain and K-culture sectors. In 2025, the number of reviewed M and As involving foreign companies amounted to 174 cases, with a combined value of 305.9 trillion won, accounting for 85.4 percent of the total deal value. Among these, M and As between foreign companies alone comprised 131 cases, with a total value of 295 trillion won.
The watchdog noted an increase in the number of cases subject to in-depth review, rising to 50 in 2025 from 36 the previous year, due to the necessity for heightened scrutiny of potential anti-competitive effects. The FTC conducted more intensive reviews of mergers with significant market impact potential and reinforced post-approval monitoring of cases where corrective measures were imposed.
Among the reviewed cases, the FTC implemented corrective measures in three instances, notably granting conditional approval for the merger between streaming platforms Tving and Wavve.