Samsung Electronics Co. has launched its first team dedicated solely to mergers and acquisitions, a sign the South Korean tech giant is gearing up for major deals again after an eight-year lull as it looks for new growth drivers in artificial intelligence, biotechnology and advanced chips.
The move comes as Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong has cleared long-running legal troubles, removing an overhang that had clouded his leadership for years.
The creation of a permanent M&A team, paired with last week’s reorganization of Samsung’s Business Support Task Force into a formal division called the Business Support Office, marks one of the strongest indications yet that Lee is accelerating his “New Samsung” initiative.
By consolidating oversight functions and building a standing dealmaking unit, Samsung appears to be laying the groundwork for a more aggressive pursuit of acquisitions that could reshape the company’s future portfolio.
According to one industry official, elevating the M&A staff into a permanent team “indicates Samsung wants to move faster in identifying new businesses that can reinforce its long-term competitiveness.”
SAMSUNG’S FIRST-EVER PERMANENT M&A TEAM
Industry officials said Thursday that Samsung recently established the new M&A organization within the Business Support Office, replacing the ad-hoc task forces that previously handled transactions and bringing together deal specialists who had been scattered across multiple divisions.
The team will be led by President Ahn Joong-hyun, a veteran behind Samsung’s biggest deals, including the 9 trillion won ($6.1 billion) acquisition of Harman International Industries in 2017, the company’s largest buyout to date.
Other senior executives, including Vice President Lim Byung-il, have also joined.
While Samsung’s former Future Strategy Office oversaw some M&A activity before its dissolution in 2017, this marks the company’s first dedicated, permanent M&A unit.
NEXT MAJOR DEALS: AI, CHIPS, BIOTECH, MOBILITY
Samsung has not executed a major acquisition since the Harman deal eight years ago even as global rivals, particularly in the US, expanded aggressively through acquisitions.
The launch of the new team is widely seen as the start of a more active deal pipeline.
Analysts expect Samsung to target areas that expand or strengthen its core capabilities, including artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors, batteries, biotechnology, digital health and medtech.
The company said during its third-quarter earnings call last month that it is reviewing potential deals in these categories.
In October, Samsung also completed an organizational split of Samsung Bioepis into Samsung Epis Holdings, resolving conflict-of-interest issues and giving Samsung Biologics Co. more freedom to pursue drug-development partnerships and acquisitions.
CONSOLIDATING DEALMAKING UNDER ONE ROOF
With the addition of the M&A team, the Business Support Office now extends beyond its earlier task-force role.
Last month, Samsung moved the management audit division, previously part of Samsung Global Research, into the new office, integrating audit, consulting and strategic oversight functions under one roof.
Analysts expect Samsung further to strengthen its dealmaking capacity during upcoming personnel appointments as it sharpens its focus on securing businesses that can drive growth over the next decade.
“Samsung appears to believe that the conditions are finally right for a strategic shift,” one industry official said.
“A dedicated M&A team suggests the group is preparing for moves that could define its next ten years.”
