CJ CheilJedang’s sale of shares in 15 companies in Korea and Southeast Asia, including CJ Feed&Care

CJ CheilJedang Corporation and its three subsidiaries (collectively, the “Sellers”) entered into a master sale and share purchase agreement (the “Share Purchase Agreement”) on October 1, 2025 to sell their shares in 15 companies engaging in the feed and livestock business to De Heus Animal Nutrition B.V., a Netherlands-based global animal feed company, and its three affiliates (collectively, the “Purchasers”, and such sale and purchase, the “Transaction”), and the Transaction is expected to close in 2026.

The Transaction is a large-scale cross-border M&A involving the sale by multiple Sellers of shares in 15 companies established in Korea and Southeast Asia to multiple Purchasers. Given the need for an extensive understanding of the legal systems across various jurisdictions from the transaction structure review stage, coupled with the involvement of a listed company as one of the Sellers, which required highly intensive negotiations within a short period of time to ensure confidentiality, the negotiation of the Share Purchase Agreement was highly complex and challenging.

Lee & Ko provided comprehensive and efficient legal advice on the entire Transaction by directly handling the review of Korean and Vietnamese legal issues throughout all stages of the deal, including transaction structure review, preparation of responses to legal due diligence questions, and preparation, negotiation, and execution of transaction agreements, and by serving as the central coordination hub overseeing and coordinating local counsel in Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Cambodia. In doing so, Lee & Ko played a key role in successfully addressing the complex transaction structure and multinational legal issues, thereby contributing decisively to the smooth signing of the Share Purchase Agreement.