Corporate · Sports & Entertainment
GAON LAW GROUP’s Corporate Team provides legal services on M&A and investment structures, corporate finance and corporate control, antitrust, disputes arising from power dynamics, and other general corporate governance matters.
Mergers and Acquisitions
The Corporate Team advises on all processes of M&A deals, from the establishment of the deal structure to negotiation of terms, drafting contracts, the closing, and post-closing maintenance. We work with our clients to obtain the maximum benefits while minimizing risks, in furtherance of the clients’ business objectives. In addition, the Corporate Team works closely with our Tax Group to address comprehensively potential issues that may arise from the deal.
Investment / Corporate Finance
We advise on all processes of the investment, from the establishment of the investment structure to negotiation of terms, drafting and reviewing contracts, the closing, and post-closing maintenance. Our Corporate Team, in cooperation with our Tax Group, provides in-depth advice on all tax issues which may arise in the course of corporate transactions.
Corporate Control / Hostile Takeover
A dispute over corporate control has special characteristics, which require that necessary and appropriate legal steps and measures be taken in the appropriate order and at the proper time for the intended results to be obtained. If the timing is missed or the wrong course is taken, at any point, irreversible consequences might ensue. These matters must be handled in close cooperation between the client and legal advisors.
Our Corporate Team, with deep experience in successfully engaging in various forms of corporate control battles and hostile takeovers with respect to both listed and unlisted companies, provides the most optimal solutions for our clients by working closely with them to develop and implement the appropriate plan of action. We can also assist our clients in any litigation that may arise in the course of a battle for corporate control.
Fair Trade and Antitrust
Companies may confront various fair trade and antitrust law issues in the course of business operations, such as monopoly, unfair transactions, agency transactions, and subcontracting. Recently, many claims for remedies and relevant disputes have been brought to or filed with the Fair Trade Commission, courts and other government agencies. Thus, it is essential to make decisions after thoroughly reviewing foreseeable legal issues and analyzing relevant risks in connection with transactions with another party.
Our Corporate Team represents our clients in Fair Trade Commission inspections, court proceedings, or any other disputes, and effectively brings up fair trade and antitrust issues to the authorities on behalf of our clients. Our Corporate Team also provides in-depth advice on those issues regulated by the Fair Trade Commission, including franchise, direct sales, labelling and advertisement, and M&A filing.
Bio and Healthcare Companies
The bio & healthcare industry has the most complicated regulatory restrictions. There are a myriad of laws governing the industry, and each relevant statute, including the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, the Medical Devices Act, the Cosmetics Act and the Health Functional Foods Act, imposes complex requirements concerning permits and licenses, labelling and advertisement, and recalls. Any failure to meet these requirements may result in a suspension of business, suspension of items, imposition of penalties, etc., which can adversely affect business operations.
GAON LAW GROUP’s Corporate Team, with deep legal expertise and experience in the bio & healthcare area, provides legal advice on compliance with the above laws and regulations and represents our clients in relevant investigations and dispositions by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the prosecution, the police, and other regulatory authorities. Further, we assist our clients in promoting corporate value by effectively protecting their intellectual properties and responding to their customers’ complaints in respect of product liability, etc.
General Corporate Matters
GAON LAW GROUP’s Corporate Team provides legal services in connection with issues that may arise in the course of ongoing business operations, including contract-related issues and foreign exchange issues. We do not merely inform our clients about relevant risks but proactively endeavor to find solutions together with our clients.
Sports & Entertainment
In 2022 Gaon Law Group launched the Sports and Entertainment Team, a group of seasoned experts dedicated to addressing the broad spectrum of legal issues arising in the sports and entertainment industry.
The past three decades, the sports and entertainment industry in Korea has seen a steady and incremental development of a set of rules that regulated and governed the mechanisms of each sector within the industry. More recently, however, accelerated changes in the tech industry and the realization of a global market, coupled with the emergence of new and powerful players, have fundamentally changed the industry itself, in which the traditional rules and legal concepts may not fully respond to the new issues that arise from the new circumstances and changed business models.
GAON Law Group’s Sports & Entertainment Team provides customized legal advisory services to address the different needs and expectations of the various players in the industry, taking into account the differing interests and perspectives of the each, whether they be the studios, developers, producers, production companies, financial service providers, distributors, platforms, artists, management, professional athletes, or agencies, etc., and assist them navigate during times of change.
The Sports & Entertainment Team members have a deep and comprehensive knowledge of and experience in the sports and entertainment field itself, and thus they understand the issues related to content creation, financing, distribution agreements, copyright laws, unfair competition, fair trade, defamation, portrait rights, publicity rights, risk and reputation management, to name but a few. Such expertise in and understanding of the industry gives the Team ability to identify and address the issues before they become problematic, or to resolve existing conflicts through negotiated settlements or litigation, if necessary.
Key Services
· In-house legal services for film and TV studio/production companies
· Consultation on strategic investment/business partnership and negotiation support for content creation companies
· Comprehensive care program for artists and professional athletes, from contract negotiation support, to risk and reputation management to legal advice on asset management, etc.
· Advising film and TV productions (E&O insurance issues and disputes, risk management, chain of title, IP clearance, copyright registration, issuing clearance reports, etc.)
· Consultation on content project financing
· Consultation on legislative and government affairs
