Kim & Chang

Managing Partner: Kye Sung CHUNG and Kyung Taek JUNG
Number of fee earners: Over 1,500
Number of lawyers: 940
Languages: Korean, English, German, French, Dutch, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese

Firm Overview:
Kim & Chang is Korea’s premier law firm and one of Asia’s largest law firms. Since its founding in 1973, Kim & Chang’s successful track record of ‘first-of-its-kind’ and groundbreaking solutions to some of the largest and most complex transactions in Korea and around the world has set it apart. The firm is a market leader in all major practice areas and industries. Today, more than 1,500 professionals — both attorneys and other subject matter and industry experts — work collaboratively, in teams, to craft innovative solutions to clients’ most difficult challenges.

Main Areas of Practice:
Antitrust & Competition
Banking & Finance
Capital Markets
Criminal Defence
Environment
E-Commerce
FinTech
Health
Insolvency & Restructuring
Insurance
Intellectual Property
International Trade & Customs
Labour & Employment
Litigation & Arbitration
M&A
Privacy & Data Security
Private Equity
Project Finance
Real Estate & Construction
Securities
Shipping
Structured Finance
Tax
Technology, Media & Telecommunications

Antitrust & Competition:
■ Represented Dow Chemical and DuPont in their merger of equals
■ Represented Japanese car shipping companies in a fiveyear KFTC investigation into their global bidding practices as part of a larger international cartel. K&C set a new precedent by persuading the KFTC to recognise the joint status of two of the companies, which received substantial monetary and other benefits as a result
Contacts: Youngjin JUNG, Gene-Oh (Gene) KIM
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

Banking & Finance:
■ Provided legal advice to the lenders and the financial investors on all aspects of the largest PPI Project
■ Represented Netmarble Games Corporation regarding the financing of its acquisition of Kabam, Inc., a game developing company in the United States
Contacts: Chan-Moon PARK, Bumkyu SUNG
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

Capital Markets:
■ Represented Celltrion Healthcare Co., Ltd. for its public listing of shares on the Korea Exchange
■ Represented Shinhan Investment Corp. for acquisition of the acquisition financing short term loans extended to Hainan Group from Credit Suisse
Contacts: Young-Man HUH, Myoung Jae CHUNG
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

Corporate/M&A:
■ Acted as the Korean legal counsel to SK Hynix, which was one of the main financial investors of the consortium led by Bain Capital. The consortium acquired Toshiba Memory Corporation from Toshiba Corporation
■ Advised the consortium of Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs (Consortium), and the selling founder, Sang Rok Lee (Selling Founder), in their sale of 96% of the issues and outstanding shares in Carver Korea Co., Ltd., for approximately KRW 3 trillion (approximately USD 2.755 billion) to Unilever
Contacts: Jong-Koo PARK, Jong-Hyun PARK
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

Criminal Defence:
■ Successfully represented a multinational manufacturer in a fraudulent importation investigation led by the Seoul Customs Office and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. Through its pro-active defence approach, Kim & Chang was also able to significantly minimise the scope of the indictment and prevent potential spillover effects from the investigation to the head office and overseas jurisdictions
■ Conducted internal investigation on embezzlement by the treasury manager at the Korean affiliate of multinational machinery corporation, involving complex regulatory and investigation specialisations, Kim & Chang provided a onestop shop for the client in navigating through a complex legal crisis of unprecedented financial scale
Contacts: Seung Ho LEE, Michael H. YU
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

International Trade & Customs:
■ Represented WTO dispute case: US – Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duties on Certain Products and the Use of Facts Available (WT/DS539)
■ Represented U. Countervailing Duty investigation: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate from Korea
Contacts: Youngjin JUNG, Joon Ho BU
Emails: [email protected], jhbu @kimchang.com

Intellectual Property:
■ Successfully defended Astellas Pharma, Inc. against challenges to the patent term extension for Korean Patent No. 967070 (relating to approval for Betmiga®) at all levels, including the IPTAB, Patent Court, and Supreme Court
■ Enforced and defended one of Pfizer’s top selling drugs, Lyrica, in various patent actions against generic companies (i.e., invalidation actions, preliminary injunction actions and main infringement actions for damages) in Korea
Contacts: Jay (Young-June) YANG, DuckSoon CHANG
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

Labour & Employment:
■ Provided legal advice to the client on how to carry out a large-scale restructuring of approximately 80% of its retail branches in Korea
■ Advised the client on preparing a framework for maximising productivity at its manufacturing plants, such as introducing a shift work regime and a flexible working hour system
Contact: Weon Jung KIM
Email: [email protected]

Litigation/Arbitration/Dispute Resolution:
■ Represented banks to seek payment under K-SURE Export Insurance Policies in the Moneual Case
■ Represented a Korean subsidiary of a well-known French company in an ICC arbitration against a Korean steel producer, regarding termination of a long term supply agreement for industrial gases to be supplied to a steel plant in Korea
Litigation Contacts: Chang-Hoon BAEK, Jin-Yeong CHUNG
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]
Arbitration Contacts: Byung-Chol (B.C.) YOON, Eun Young PARK
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

Private Equity:
■ Advised the consortium of Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs (Consortium), and the selling founder, Sang Rok Lee (Selling Founder), in their sale of 96% of the issues and outstanding shares in Carver Korea Co., Ltd. (Carver Korea), for approximately KRW 3 trillion (approximately USD 2.755 billion) to Unilever
■ Represented KKR in its acquisition of certain assets and businesses from LS Mtron and LS Automotive, for KRW 1,050,000,000,000 Kim & Chang has provided comprehensive legal advice relating to the structuring, due diligence of the target businesses, preparation, review and negotiation of the relevant transactional documents (including the investment agreement, business transfer agreements and transition services agreement), making of the requisite regulatory and other filings and other closing-related matters, including legal, HR and tax issues relating to the transaction.
Contacts: Young-Man HUH, Jong Koo PARK
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

Real Estate & Construction:
■ Represented WeWork in negotiation and execution of long-term commercial lease agreements for its officesharing business operations in Korea
■ Represented Mirae Asset Global Investments in its acquisition of the Taunusanlage 8 (T8) building in Frankfurt, Germany
Contacts: Hyoung-Soo KWON, Jin-Ho SONG
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Tax:
■ Represented eight leasing companies in arguing that the interest should be exempt since the general interest withholding exemption available for foreign currency loans should also be applicable to leasing companies engaged in a foreign exchange business
■ Successfully argued that the form of each company may not be disregarded for tax purposes since the transaction had a rational business purpose
Contacts: Byung-Moon JUNG, Woo Hyun BAIK
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]