Invest KOREA

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held the opening ceremony of its Global M&A Support Center at the Invest Korea Plaza on Monday with about 60 people attending from government agencies, domestic and overseas financial institutions, private equity firms, venture capital firms, accounting firms and companies.

The center is designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) complete mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

Amid the prolonged global economic slowdown triggered by the financial crisis, countries around the world are utilizing M&A as a tool to steer themselves out of the economic quagmire. China and Japan, in particular, are rushing to buy foreign companies with high potential.

Last year, Japan and China posted a record-high of 88 trillion won and 62 trillion won, respectively, in the overseas M&A transaction amounts.

Korean companies also show strong interest in overseas M&A deals. According to a recent KOTRA survey on 1,366 SMEs, 12 percent showed interest in overseas M&A. However, many respondents said they felt discouraged by the lack of information available on promising foreign companies for sale.

KOTRA, with its overseas Korea Business Centers and networks, is the perfect organization to cater to the specific needs of SMEs.

“Our main focus will be SMEs facing difficulties in overseas expansion. We will support the entry of 10,000 companies into the overseas market and help them secure competitiveness in core technology, brand, sales networks and production,” said Dr. Young Ho Oh, President of KOTRA.

The center also plans to strengthen partnerships with the private sector by establishing a database of M&A service providers including law and accounting firms for SMEs, ensuring them easy access to these advisories worldwide. Aggressive support for M&A is expected to help grow exports and employment.

Source: KOTRA (Feb. 5, 2013)