[Weekly M&A] The AI Sovereignty War and Conglomerates' Decisions: Redrawing the Industrial Landscape

[Weekly Pitch: VC & M&A]

This is the key venture investment and M&A briefing for this week brought to you by News Epoch. (2026.04.24 ~ 2026.05.01)

This week, the domestic and international venture investment and M&A markets were highlighted by news of massive funding reviews in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and strategic business reorganization moves by major domestic conglomerates. The AI industry, in particular, captured the market's attention by being recognized for enterprise values that surpass imagination. At the same time, major domestic retail and manufacturing conglomerates appeared to be making bold decisions to upgrade their business structures. Overall, active investment and restructuring activities breathed new life into the market.

Overwhelmingly Large Big Deals and Strategic Moves by Conglomerates

In the global AI market, news of massive funding surprised investors. The AI company Anthropic reviewed an investment attraction at a staggering enterprise valuation of $900 billion, demonstrating the overheating aspect of the global AI market. This level surpasses the enterprise value of its competitor OpenAI, foreshadowing that the technological hegemony competition will further intensify. However, acquiring AI startups has not always been smooth. Meta attempted to acquire the AI startup Manus for $2 billion (approximately 2.7 trillion KRW), but it faced a crisis of being grounded due to the Chinese government's brakes, bringing home the impact of the US-China tech hegemony war.

Domestically, Finger, a B2C fintech platform developer and operator, drew attention by completing an M&A worth 110 billion KRW from Seoryong Electronics, Sungho Electronics, and others. In the retail industry, Homeplus Express, the corporate supermarket (SSM) of Homeplus, signaled a tectonic shift in the retail market as it approaches the signing of a definitive agreement with Harim Group.

Preemptive business reorganization moves by conglomerates were also active. Samsung Electronics made the strategic decision to withdraw from its home appliance and TV business in China after 34 years to focus on its smartphone and semiconductor businesses. LG Chem also appeared to be accelerating the reorganization of its business portfolio by carrying out a temporary shutdown of some business organizations following the sale of its non-core polarizing film materials and reverse osmosis (RO) filter businesses. Furthermore, SK On is discussing the sale of its Hungarian manufacturing facility with China's Geely Automobile, suggesting a shift in the global strategy of the battery industry.

Active Investment in Promising Future Sectors Such as AI and Robotics

Amid the intense heat of the global AI market, investments in AI-related startups were also actively made domestically. Autometa, an AI-based enterprise IT company, drew attention by attracting a 10.5 billion KRW Series A investment from prominent investment firms including IM Investment Partners, SBI Investment, IBK Capital, and Samsung Securities. MOAIS, an AI sports edutech company, secured a 5.5 billion KRW Series B investment through Yuanta Investment and others, while AI security specialized startup Tnaps attracted a 4.5 billion KRW seed investment from Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Kakao Ventures, and others.

Searchdog, which develops an AI technology for analyzing massive documents and drawings, also embarked on technological advancement with a 3 billion KRW seed investment from Asia2G, FuturePlay, and others. Celon, developing the AI memory solution 'Memory.inc', received a seed investment from Primer and The Ventures. This investment trend aligns with the market's overall interest in the AI sector, such as the Chairman of the Korea Exchange initiating efforts to recruit promising AI unicorn companies like Rebellions, FuriosaAI, and DeepX to the KOSDAQ.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electro-Mechanics raised expectations for the growth of the robotics industry alongside AI by announcing it would focus on developing camera modules for humanoid robots. OpenAI dissolving its exclusive contract with Microsoft and announcing cooperation with Amazon Web Services (AWS) is interpreted as an important move foreshadowing the expansion of the AI service ecosystem and intensifying competition.

M&A, Restructuring, and Other Notable Deals

Major M&A news included Roanco Holdings acquiring the largest shareholder's stake in KOSDAQ-listed Alois to secure management control. Global healthcare company J&J acquired the atrial fibrillation treatment device developer Atraverse Medical to strengthen its capabilities in the medical device sector.

Companies' moves for survival also continued. Used car platform Autohands demonstrated success in improving its fundamental constitution by achieving its highest-ever performance and initiating an initial public offering (IPO) in earnest. On the other hand, luxury platform Guhada, which suffered from chronic deficits, struggled to secure golden time for survival by attracting a 2 billion KRW investment. Additionally, UltraV, acquired by the private equity fund VIG Partners, is seeking a rebound as its enterprise value plummeted to the 50 billion KRW range due to the withdrawal of its listing and poor performance.

In the e-commerce market, 11st fundamentally shifted its global e-commerce strategy by ending its collaboration with US Amazon and partnering with China's JD.com. This is interpreted as a bold strategy revision for survival in the rapidly changing e-commerce market. In the real estate REITs market, a sense of anxiety in the financial market was also detected as JR Global REIT filed for corporate rehabilitation, putting a bond-type fund of KOREIT Asset Management at risk of a 30 billion KRW loss.

In addition, RYHM, which operates the designer accessories brand 'KHIHO', demonstrated the efforts of fashion platforms to discover new brands by attracting investment from Musinsa Partners. Mobile game software developer Super Turbine Technology enjoyed a double celebration by attracting investment from TAP Angel Partners and being selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' TIPS program. Blockchain research institute Four Pillars attracted a Series A investment from Further Ventures and Pantera Capital, maintaining steady interest in the expansion of the blockchain ecosystem. AddVenture with its eco-friendly biodegradable polymer technology, mobility platform specialized company Open Mobility, and offline cashback app 'Cashmore' operator Bridgeworks also attracted investments in their respective fields to seek growth.

[Epoch Point]

This week stood out for expectations of explosive growth in the AI industry coupled with the preemptive business reorganization of conglomerates. In particular, the intensification of the global technological hegemony competition had a direct impact on the direction of large-scale M&A deals, making it a week that highlighted the importance of companies' strategic decision-making.