Law.com Daily Business Review: O’Melveny Secures Global Clearances for Korean Air-Asiana Merger

O’Melveny helped clear the way for Korean Air to acquire a 63.9% stake in Asiana Airlines four years after announcing its intent, positioning the combined airline among the world’s top 10 carriers. The transaction closed on December 12 and received clearance from competition authorities across 13 countries. “This deal reflects the culmination of years of dedicated effort and strategic planning,” said Ian Simmons, co-chair of O’Melveny’s Antitrust & Competition Practice and partner in the Washington, DC, office. “We have been privileged to serve Asiana Airlines since 2006, and we are truly grateful for the trust they placed in us to help them craft a global strategy to combine with Korean Air.” O’Melveny’s Washington, DC managing partner Courtney Dyer said: “Part of [the plan] was making sure, knowing that we had to obtain regulatory clearances in many, many jurisdictions, to set the framework for the advocacy to be done through the regulators in an uncertain environment.” Riccardo Celli, managing partner of O’Melveny’s Brussels office, added: “This case demonstrated our team’s ability to think ‘outside the box.’” This merger involved O’Melveny lawyers working across several offices, including those based in Washington, DC, New York, Los Angeles, Brussels, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, and Shanghai. In addition to Simmons, Celli, and Dyer, the O’Melveny team included partners Stephen McIntyre, Mia Gonzalez, Julia Schiller, Philip Monaghan, and Yoji Maeda; counsel Philippe Nogues, Courtney Byrd, Alexandra Wolter, Brian Quinn, and Lining Shan; associates Jack Derewicz, Rebecca Evans, Arjun Shenoy, Emily Murphy, and Vivian Wang; and staff attorney Min Choi.

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