Korea M&A Exchange, Korea's premier M&A trading platform, has successfully secured a 500 million yen ($3.35 million) investment from Nihon M&A Center, Japan's leading M&A trading platform.

A ceremony to mark the agreement between Korea M&A Exchange and Nihon M&A Center was held Thursday at Korea M&A Exchange headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. As part of the agreement, Nihon M&A Center will acquire approximately 10 percent of Korea M&A Exchange's shares, elevating the corporate valuation of Korea M&A Exchange to approximately 50 billion won.

The deal marks the Korean and Japanese exchanges' debut in foreign investments. Korea M&A Exchange has attracted foreign investment for the first time as a domestic M&A intermediary platform, while Nihon M&A Center has made its inaugural investment in a foreign entity.

Listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nihon M&A Center currently boasts a market capitalization of 32.32 billion yen and facilitates over 1,000 M&A transactions annually through its proprietary intermediary platform.

Korea M&A Exchange plans to use the secured funds to expand in domestic and international markets, while implementing systematic enhancements.

Initially, Korea M&A Exchange intends to enhance the utilization of its accumulated M&A deal database by upgrading the system, with considerations for leveraging artificial intelligence to expedite matching between sellers and buyers.

In the domestic market, attention is being directed towards the growth potential of M&A activities for small and medium-sized enterprises, also with initiatives planned to support the completion of M&A transactions by targeting companies with business succession plans.

Regarding the international market, the capabilities of Nihon M&A Center are expected to be actively utilized following the investment. Collaboration with Nihon M&A Center, which has expanded its operations in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries, is anticipated to stimulate overseas activities of Korea M&A Exchange.

Through various cross-border deal agreements, the exchange aims to optimize stock value and achieve listing on the Kosdaq market within two years.

Lee Chang-hun, Chair of Korea M&A Exchange, expressed, "We are committed to entering the stock market through future IPOs and maximizing shareholder value," showing anticipation towards diverse cross-border deals.