Shearn Delamore & Co. is honoured to have been jointly conferred the Merger Control Matter of the Year award for Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (alongside legal firms Kim & Chang, Freshfields, Cleary Gottlieb, Allen & Gledhill, O’Melveny & Myers, and Shin & Kim) at the Global Competition Review (“GCR”) Awards 2025 for our work in Korean Air’s €1.31 billion acquisition of Asiana Airlines (“the Merger Transaction”). The Merger Transaction required regulatory approvals across multiple jurisdictions, including Korea, the UK, the US, the EU, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Headed by Anand Raj, our team included Jeevitha Thurai and Choo Kelly who handled the filing of the merger notification for the Merger Transaction in Malaysia, working closely with clients and instructing foreign counsel. The Malaysian Aviation Commission (“MAVCOM”) approved the Merger Transaction pursuant to the Malaysian Aviation Commission Act 2015 (“MACA 2015”).
In presenting the award, GCR observed the work in the merger as “creative, strategic and innovative competition work that went into this landmark cross-jurisdiction transaction”. This merger notification sets an important precedent for subsequent merger notifications in Malaysia and has an impact on sectors beyond aviation, especially in the light of MyCC’s proposed amendments to introduce a general merger control regime in Malaysia this year.
For any information related to MAVCOM’s notification procedure or merger control in Malaysia under the MACA 2015, the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and the impending merger control regime under the Competition Act 2010, please contact Mr. Anand Raj at anand@shearndelamore.com and Ms. Cynthia Lian at cynthia@shearndelamore.com.
