DLA Piper advises Korean Air on successful EU Commission approval of Asiana acquisition

DLA Piper has successfully represented Korean Air in the European Union’s in-depth investigation into its proposed acquisition of Asiana Airlines Inc. The EU has now given its approval, under the EU Merger Regulation, conditional upon compliance with remedies offered by Korean Air.

Korean Air is South Korea’s largest airline. It is a full-service carrier with domestic and international operations in passenger and cargo air transport. It operates a hub-and-spoke network with its principal hub at Incheon airport in Seoul and is a member of the SkyTeam alliance.

Asiana, is the second largest airline in South Korea. It is a full-service carrier with domestic and international operations in passenger and cargo air transport. It has its principal hub at Incheon airport in Seoul and is a member of the Star Alliance.

Both airlines have a significant presence in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the acquisition was, therefore, notified to the European Commission on 13 January 2023 and the Commission opened an in-depth investigation on 17 February 2023. On 17 May 2023, the Commission issued a Statement of Objections to Korean Air setting out its preliminary competition concerns. Subsequently Korean Air offered a number of remedies covering both cargo and passengers.

These proposed commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission. After collecting the feedback of customers and competitors during a market test of the proposed commitments, the Commission concluded that the commitments preserve effective competition in cargo and passenger transport between South Korea and the EEA.

With the support of DLA Piper Korea, a core team from the firm’s Brussels, German and London offices assisted Korean Air with the EU merger control process, together with Jones Day and Allen & Overy as European co-counsel, and Kim & Chang as global coordinating counsel. Asiana was represented by O’Melveny & Myers and Shin & Kim.

The DLA Piper teams were led by Competition and Antitrust partners Sarah Smith (London), Daniel Colgan (Brussels), Daniel Lee (Country Managing Partner, Korea) and Senior Lead Lawyer Andreas Politis (Brussels).