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Provided by Joongil Cho
Mr. Joongil Cho is a partner at Shin & Kim’s Corporate/M&A Group. His main areas of practice include mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and corporate governance.
Mr. Cho has advised on major M&A transactions in the IT industry. He has also served as a senior legal counsel at Samsung Electronics, mainly providing advisory services on compliance. He worked at Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg & Co. (GKH) in Israel, where he advised on investments in start-ups.
After graduating from College of Law, Konkuk University, Mr. Cho acquired a master's degree (LL.M.) from Duke University School of Law in the United States and passed the Korean bar exam as the 36th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute. Before joining Shin & Kim, Mr. Cho worked as a judge advocate, a senior attorney at Samsung Electronics, and as a foreign attorney at Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg & Co. (GKH) in the State of Israel. Since 2018, he has served as an advisor to Legal Counsel of the Creative Economy Innovation Center of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea, and since 2022, as a member of the Special Committee for the Legal Support to the Venture Companies and Start-ups of the Korean Bar Association.
Mr. Cho has been writing on various legal issues in the fields of merger, acquisition, and private investment and presenting as a presenter or on a panel at numerous seminars held in Korea and overseas. He is recognized as a Leading Individual in the fields of corporate/M&A from renowned global media such as Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific, and IFLR 1000.
Shin & Kim LLC (2013.5–Present)
Member, KBA Venture/Start-Up Legal Assistance Special Committee (2022–Present)
Legal Advisory Unit, Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, Ministry of Justice (2018–Present)
International Associate, Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg & Co. (GKH), Israel (2017–2018)
Member, Review Committee for National Tax Appeal, Dongdaemun District Tax Office (2013–2015)
Senior Legal Counsel, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (2012.7–2013.4)
Shin & Kim LLC (2010–2012.6)
Judge Advocate, Republic of Korea Army (2007–2010)
Judicial Research & Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Korea (2005–2007)
Korean Bar.
Lexology Getting The Deal Through – Venture Capital 2024: Korea Chapter (Co-authored)
Lexology Getting The Deal Through – Venture Capital 2023: Korea Chapter (Co-authored)
"On-line stockholders’ meeting", BFL Vol. 114, July 2022 (Co-authored)
Comparison of investment in startups between FI (Financial Investor) and SI (Strategic Investor), Korea Venture Capital Association M&A Newsletter, March 2021
Realities and concerns of legislation related to personal mobility, Monthly "EV Magazine" Vol. 03, September 2020
Review of the Current Regulation on Intragroup Transactions and Recommendations to Improve the Regulatory Framework, Law Review Vol. IV, December 2013 (Co-authored)
"Legal Issues on Corporate Spin-off", BFL Series 8, Center for Financial Law, Seoul National University, 2013 (Co-authored)
"Corporate Spin-off and Treatment of Security Interests", BFL (bimonthly periodical published by Center for Financial Law of Seoul National University) Vol. 49, 2011 (Co-authored)
Duke University School of Law
LL.M.
2016 - 2017
Konkuk University College of Law
LL.B.
2000 - 2008
Investment in ECOPRO-innovation by financial investors (i.e. PremierPartners, etc.)
Sale of WeMakePrice and new shares acquisition of Q10
Kakao and Kakao Entertainment’s control interest transfer from SM entertainment
Kakao Entertainment’s investment attraction from the Saudi Arabian National Fund PIF and Singaporean National Fund GIC
Naver Financial Corporation’s acquisition of Naver real estate services, etc.
42dot’s sale to Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation
IMM Investment’s investment in Zigbang
SK Discovery’s tender offer for the shares of SK Chemical
SK Ecoplant’s acquisition of Singaporean electric and electronic wastes management company TES-AMM
Kidari Studio and Lezhin Entertainment’s investment attraction from Bytedance
42dot’s Series investment attraction (in the largest scale of all series A investments)
SK Plasma’s investment attraction
BHC’s acquisition of Outback Stakehouse
KRAFTON’s acquisition of interactive content producer Thingsflow
Kakao Entertainment’s acquisition of Antenna
VoyagerX’s investment attraction from Softbank Ventures, Altos Ventures and Yellowdog
LG Chem’s new shares acquisition of cosmetic container manufacturer Innerbottle
Naver Cloud’s acquisition of Works Mobile business
Softbank Ventures’s investments in online platform Rapport Labs
Softbank Ventures, IMM Investment, Bon Angels Venture Partners’ investment in AI-based safety technology R&D company Brookhurst Garage
Advised Softbank Ventures on investment in Radish Media, etc.
Mirae Asset Venture Investment’s investment in coworking space company Spark Plus
Kakao Japan’s investment attraction
IMM Investment’s investment in Musinsa
Kakao Enterprise’s investment attraction from KDB
Kakao Bank’s investment attraction from TPGs and Anchor Equity Partners
Netmarble’s acquisition of animation production company Keyring
Kakao M’s investment attraction of KRW 210 billion
Advertising platform Bizville’s investment attraction
IMM Investment’s new shares acquisition of WeMakePrice
Tencent, IMM Investment, JKL Partners, Saehan Start-up Investment Consortium’s new shares acquisition of KRAFTON
SK D&D’s sale of its stake in Hahn & Company
Kakao’s acquisition of Loen and issuance of new shares
Netmarble’s stock exchange with NCSOFT
Netmarble’s acquisition of SGN Games in the United States
Netmarble’s investment attraction from Tencent
S-1’s acquisition of Building Management business
Seagate’s acquisition of Samsung Electronics’ HDD business
Naver Cloud and Woongjin Thinkbig’s establishment of academic cloud platform joint venture Baecomm Co., Ltd.
Kakao’s merger with Kakao Commerce
SK Gas, Lotte Chemical, and Air Liquide Korea’s establishment of a hydrogen joint venture
Kakao's establishment of New Melon Company, a spilt-off of Melon, and its merger with Kakao Entertainment
GS Energy and Gntel’s operation of joint venture GS-Connect, an EV charging services provider
Kakao Commerce’s merger of its Style business and a spin-off of Cherokee.com Co. Ltd.
Kakao Page’s merger with KakaohM
Solar Edge Technologies Korea’s all-inclusive shares exchange with Kokam
Kakao’s division of the Commerce business
SK Gas’s merger with G HUB
Netmarble’s stock exchange with tis subsidiaries
T-Broad’s merger of its subsidiaries (concurrent merger of 5 companies)
Samsung General Chemicals’ merger with Samsung Petrochemicals
Woori Financial Group’s division of local bank holding companies and their merger with Woori Bank
SK Hynix’s stock exchange with SiliconFile Technologies
HL Mando’s spin-off and conversion into Halla Holdings
Chong Kun Dang’s split-off and conversion into Chong Kun Dang Holdings
Korean, English
Provided by Chambers
Joongil Cho focuses on corporate governance matters, M&A and private equity transactions. He counts prestigious domestic and international conglomerates among his clientele.
Provided by Chambers
Joongil has a sincere and dedicated work attitude and extensive M&A experience. He has the ability to accurately determine client needs by considering the entire transaction process as a whole.
He is an excellent lawyer in all aspects, offering high processing speed and effective communication with clients.
Joongil has a sincere and dedicated work attitude and extensive M&A experience. He has the ability to accurately determine client needs by considering the entire transaction process as a whole.
He is an excellent lawyer in all aspects, offering high processing speed and effective communication with clients.