Chaebol rush into medical business

By Kim Tong-hyung

It’s shaping up to be a frantic year for mergers and acquisitions (M&As), as the country pays keen attention to the shopping spree involving massive targets like Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Woori Financial Group and Korea Exchange Bank.

However, an underreported development amid the takeover frenzy has been the intensifying competition among big businesses to gobble up Medison, a mid-sized medical device maker, as they begin to spread their influence to reach the healthcare sector.

Samsung Electronics, Asia’s largest technology company and the kingpin of Korea Inc., and SK Group, another mammoth family-owned conglomerate, stand out from the list of corporate heavyweights bidding for the 40.94