Asia

On April 10, 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation (“SAMR”) imposed administrative penalties on a leading Internet company for abusing its dominance in the China online retail market by engaging in exclusive dealing conduct. This article will sort out the key points of this case from four different aspects: relevant market definition, market dominance evaluation, “either or” (exclusive dealing) conduct, and the penalty amount. It will also offer suggestions on compliance for Internet platform undertakings.

Global M&A activity in 2020 was a remarkable tale of two halves, with historically low M&A volume in the first half of the year, especially in the months following the initial outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, followed by an explosion of activity in the second half of the year.

Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A activity recovered in Q3 2020 as economies around the world began to reopen and dealmakers, focusing on existence-preserving activities in the first half of the year, returned their attention to M&A transactions. While global M&A volume in Q3 2020 was strong across the board, the continuing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A activity in Q2 2020 dropped to its lowest quarterly levels in more than a decade, as corporate dealmakers paused to weigh the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the responses of governments, businesses and consumers across the world, and many companies devoted all available resources to existence-preserving activities and not growth … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A volume was just US$730 billion in Q1 2020, a decrease of approximately 30% from Q4 2019 (US$1 trillion), approximately 25% from Q1 2019 (US$982 billion) and the lowest first-quarter global M&A volume since 2014 (US$657 billion). The decline in M&A volume relative to prior quarters was particularly pronounced in the United … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights Global M&A volume approached US$3.9 trillion in 2019, the third highest annual total in the last decade, despite increasing global economic and political headwinds. Strong economic growth, low interest rates, record amounts of private equity dry powder and the availability of corporate cash fueled global M&A in 2019. The boom was strongest in … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights: In Q2 2019, global M&A volume reached US$1 trillion for the quarter and surpassed US$2 trillion for the year to date. Global M&A volume in 2019 is on pace to reach the US$4 trillion mark for the second consecutive year and only the third time in the last decade. The significant global deal … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A volume, which exceeded US$4.0 trillion in 2018, continued at a similar pace in Q1 2019, reaching US$958 billion. Global M&A volume in the first quarter of the year has been primarily driven by record levels of deal activity in the United States. It was the most active first quarter for U.S. … Continued

Executive Summary/Highlights: Global M&A volume in 2018 reached US$4.0 trillion, a level achieved only once before in the last decade (2015). 2018 was a notably strong year for cross-border M&A, despite escalating trade tensions and anti-globalist rhetoric. US$1.6 trillion (39%) of deals in 2018 were cross-border transactions, approximating recent highs in terms of both dollar … Continued

MAIN ARTICLE Korea had the strongest and most active M&A market in 2014 during the past five years with a 47% increase in announced deal volume from USD 64.8 billion in 2013 to USD 95 billion in 2014 (based on Bloomberg statistics), and Kim & Chang had the privilege of advising on transactions accounting for … Continued