First M&A attempt since Chairman Kim Nam-jung took office in 2024

Dongwon Group corporate identity logo [Provided by Dongwon Group]
Dongwon Group corporate identity logo [Provided by Dongwon Group]

Dongwon Group is pursuing an acquisition of Charmzone, a first-generation South Korean cosmetics company.

According to industry sources, Dongwon was selected Thursday as one of the conditional preferred bidders for Charmzone, which is undergoing a court-supervised sale process under the Seoul Bankruptcy Court. Dongwon HomeFoods, a food ingredients retail subsidiary, has proposed to carry out the acquisition. The purchase price is understood to be in the hundreds of billions of won range. If no higher offer emerges, Dongwon HomeFoods will be confirmed as the final acquirer.

Should the deal close, Dongwon — which started in the fisheries industry and has since expanded into processed food, packaging and logistics — would establish a new growth foothold in the beauty sector. It would also mark the group's first external merger and acquisition since Chairman Kim Nam-jung took office in March 2024.

Dongwon has a track record of acquiring technically capable companies facing financial difficulties to expand its business reach. A prominent example is its 2008 acquisition of StarKist, the world's largest tuna brand, which was struggling with losses at the time.

Founded in 1984, Charmzone pioneered the domestic functional cosmetics market by introducing South Korea's first cleansing water. However, weakening brand competitiveness and a management dispute pushed the company into financial distress, leading it to file for court receivership last November. Charmzone's sales last year came to 18.1 billion won ($13.3 million), a 51 percent drop from 37.2 billion won the previous year. Its net loss stood at 8.4 billion won.


soho0902@heraldcorp.com