Shin & Kim was the winner of the Matter of the Year award and the Merger Control of the Year: Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa award by the Global Competition Review (GCR), the world’s leading antitrust and competition law journal and news service.

GCR is a globally recognized antitrust journal that is also an official partner to the International Bar Association (IBA). GCR presents annual awards to honor the most notable antitrust cases,  law firms, attorneys, and enforcers.

Among the law firms in Korea, Shin & Kim LLC won two awards- one for the Matter of the Year award and one for the Merger Control of the Year: Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa award. Kim & Chang was a joint winner for the Matter of the Year award.

Shin & Kim was awarded with the Matter of the Year, which is considered the most prestigious award, for its representation of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) as the counsel in Korea in the corporate merger between FCA and Peugeot S.A. (PSA) that received global attention as the emergence of the world’s third largest motor company in the market. 

In addition, Shin & Kim was the winner of the Merger Control of the Year: Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa award, for its representation of ZF Friedrichshafen, a German automobile parts manufacturer, in obtaining the approval for a corporate merger between ZF Friedrichshafen and WABCO, a U.S. provider of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). 

Attorney Sang-don Lee of Shin & Kim, who was in-charge of both matters, stated that, “megamergers involve complex transactional structure that require sophisticated antitrust analysis, and receive great attention from antitrust authorities of the relevant countries. That is why the parties to the M&A are more than willing to spend a vast amount to retain the best law firms in each respective country. The Antitrust Group of Shin & Kim has been recognized once again for its top-notch global capacity by receiving these awards.”

Meanwhile, in 2016, Shin & Kim was the winner of the GCR Regional Firm of the Year: Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa award, and had already been globally recognized for its top-tier capacity in the antitrust practice area. The Antitrust Group of Shin & Kim is comprised of approximately 70 fully dedicated attorneys and expert advisors for antitrust matters backed by rich experience and expertise. Even Chambers & Partners, a U.K. firm that produces international rankings for the legal industry, ranked Shin & Kim as Band 1 for six years in a row among Korean law firms in the antitrust sector.