YOON&YANG

From 2016 to 2017, Yoon & Yang successfully represented Performance Optics and its subsidiaries, Vision Ease in Minnesota, USA and Daemyung Optical in Daejeon, Korea, in the KFTC’s 9-month merger review investigation into its sale to HOYA Corporation, which resulted in KFTC’s unconditional approval on July 24, 2017 based on a novel product market definition argument with Daemyung Optical being the key asset at issue for the KFTC.  Subsequently, on August 1, 2017, the transaction was closed for about USD 450,000,000.  This is the first time the KFTC approved an acquisition of a Korean target company, Daemyung Optical, that was blocked in the past when HOYA’s competitor, Essilor, tried to acquire it back in 2014.  Daemyung Optical is the second largest ophthalmic lens manufacturer in Korea.