Market Structure Still Matters: the KFTC Blocks a Merger between Top Firms in Broadcasting and Communications

By Youngsoog Na

It is difficult to determine a perfect balancing point in the trade-offs between the need to positively readjust an industry structure and the concern for maintaining a competitive market structure. These issues and others came to a head recently in July when the Korea Fair Trade Commission decided to ban the transaction involving SK Telecom’s acquisition of shares of CJ HelloVision, and the merger of SK Broadband and CJHelloVision. This article addresses the KFTC’s analysis of the anticompetitive aspects of the transaction in the main relevant markets, and the justifications for the remedy imposed.

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