The Korea Fair Trade Commission said on the 12th it will approve NS Shopping's acquisition of Homeplus Express. When corporations of a certain size combine, they must undergo a review by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC), and NS Shopping–Homeplus Express passed that review.
On the 12th, NS Shopping signed a contract to acquire the corporate-style supermarket (SSM) Homeplus Express from Homeplus Co. for 120.6 billion won. NS Shopping, an affiliate of poultry and food specialist Harim, is a TV home shopping and online retailer.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) determined that even if the two corporations combine, it would not harm market competitiveness. That is because Homeplus Express's market share is only in the 2% range, lower than competing SSMs. It also determined there is little likelihood that Harim's rival chicken businesses would be shut out of the market for failing to find sales channels, or that competing retailers would be disadvantaged by being unable to procure Harim's chicken.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said, "This merger approval is intended to support a lower-ranked operator to recover and grow into a strong competitor to higher-ranked operators amid rapid structural realignment in the market."