Interview with Park Nam-soo, head of EY-Parthenon Korea

Global M&A dominated by mega-deals in first half

Semiconductor and AI investment deepens market polarization

Domestic deal count and value down 10% and 15%, market in wait-and-see mode

Second half to see expansion into downstream value chains

'K-culture industries have ample room for global growth'

Park Nam-soo, head of EY-Parthenon's strategy and financial advisory division, speaks during an interview, saying the second half of the year will be a challenging period for the M&A market due to valuation pressures from a strong Korean stock market. [Provided by EY Hanyoung]
Park Nam-soo, head of EY-Parthenon's strategy and financial advisory division, speaks during an interview, saying the second half of the year will be a challenging period for the M&A market due to valuation pressures from a strong Korean stock market. [Provided by EY Hanyoung]

"The second half will be a challenging period for the M&A industry, weighed down by concerns over interest rate hikes and valuation pressures from a strong Korean stock market. EY-Parthenon aims to be a partner for 'K-culture' businesses with the potential to expand globally."

Park Nam-soo, head of EY-Parthenon's strategy and financial advisory division, offered this outlook on the second-half M&A market in a recent interview. The domestic M&A market was largely quiet in the first half of this year outside a handful of mega-deals, and Park said the second half will be no easier. He said EY-Parthenon will focus on identifying investment opportunities among lifestyle companies — those built on Korean consumer culture such as K-beauty and K-food — that have the potential to expand into global markets, while also deepening its expertise in the semiconductor materials, parts and equipment sector.

EY-Parthenon was launched after EY Global acquired strategy consulting firm Parthenon in 2014. EY Hanyoung expanded the brand from July 2025 into an integrated platform encompassing M&A, due diligence, valuation and other financial advisory services alongside strategy consulting. Under the unified EY-Parthenon brand, the firm is building a foundation to organically connect strategy and financial advisory with innovation services — positioning itself as a more trusted advisory organization for key stakeholders including C-suite executives, boards, investment institutions and government bodies.

Park said the domestic M&A market underperformed relative to global markets in the first half of this year. "Compared with the same period last year, global deal volume fell 6% but deal value rose 16%, making it a mega-deal-driven market," he said. "By contrast, domestic deal count and value each fell 10% and 15%, respectively. A wait-and-see mood has persisted, and outside a few sectors, the rest of the market remains depressed."

He attributed the slowdown to three factors: a decline in large conglomerate carve-out deals, reshuffling of key personnel at major private equity funds, and a pullback in investment sentiment driven by tightening regulation.

"The M&A market has been reacting to two keywords — a ban on duplicate listings and stronger minority shareholder rights," Park said. "Acquisition costs have risen while exit options have narrowed, so a contraction was inevitable." He added that a flood of investment into AI and semiconductor companies has also deepened market polarization.

The first half was quiet enough to draw comparisons to a "deal drought," yet some noteworthy transactions did emerge. Park singled out EQT Partners — the global private equity fund affiliated with Sweden's Wallenberg family — and its acquisition of enterprise software firm Douzone Bizon as an impressive deal. "Foreign investors have traditionally focused on manufacturing-based companies," he said, "but the Douzone Bizon deal signals that global private equity's domestic investment portfolio is expanding beyond manufacturing into software."

The second-half outlook is equally tough. Rising interest rates and a buoyant Korean stock market have made deal closing considerably harder, Park said. While interest in domestic semiconductor and AI companies remains high, surging equity prices have inflated valuations.

"For now, M&A activity will likely be concentrated in semiconductors and AI. The DIG Airgas deal — one of the big transactions of the first half — was ultimately a deal sitting within the semiconductor pipeline," Park said. "But as the semiconductor bull market continues, the gap in price expectations between sellers and buyers is widening. The number of companies that capital markets are focused on is small, and sector valuations are high, so closing deals is far from straightforward."

EY-Parthenon has been building sector expertise through a dedicated semiconductor task force. The firm is currently advising on the sale of SSP, a domestic semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker. SSP holds more than 60% of the domestic market for semiconductor ball-mount equipment, making it a formidable niche player.

The broadening of semiconductor investment beyond materials, parts and equipment companies into downstream value chains — including industrial gases and energy — presents an opportunity. These are capital-intensive businesses underpinned by large-scale infrastructure, and a deep understanding of the sector is essential.

"Infrastructure deals such as industrial gas transactions require consideration of long-term supply contracts and cost stability, making it difficult to assess company value through standard financial statement analysis alone," Park said. "Capital expenditure tied to facility investment, depreciation, the profitability of long-term assets, and the profit-and-loss structure at the individual customer contract level are all critical due diligence items."

EY-Parthenon served as the accounting due diligence adviser for the acquirer in Air Liquide's acquisition of DIG Airgas. The firm also has an extensive track record in domestic industrial gas transactions, including due diligence on IMM Private Equity's acquisition of Air First and work related to the acquisitions of Air Liquide, Air Products and Linde's Korean operations.

EY-Parthenon's strategy extends beyond simply benefiting from the semiconductor and AI boom. The firm intends to create deal opportunities in a sluggish domestic M&A market through a more proactive approach — which is why its M&A Solutions Group is paying close attention to the global expansion potential of K-culture-based industries.

"EY-Parthenon's goal is to identify and develop companies capable of going global — like those in K-beauty and K-food," Park said. The firm published a K-beauty report in 2024 and a K-food report in 2025, using each to select target companies within the respective value chains, and the work has since translated into actual transactions.

The sale of Manjeon Food is a prime example. EY-Parthenon advised seller Kamur PE on the transaction, which closed in May with UCK Partners as the buyer. "We published the report at the group level to identify sectors based in Korea that have the potential to grow globally. Our K-food strategy aligned with UCK's growth strategy," Park said. "We matched Manjeon Food to UCK's vision, and the deal closed in a short period of time." The case clearly illustrates EY-Parthenon's strength: rather than simply connecting buyers and sellers, the firm combines strategy consulting to offer growth strategies before and after a transaction.

Park emphasized the synergy between EY-Parthenon's global network and its strong local capabilities. "EY Global has 700 offices in 150 countries — virtually any market is accessible through the EY network," he said. "We will use that global network and local insight to source deals directly and provide support all the way through to post-closing."


park.jiyeong@heraldcorp.com
an@heraldcorp.com