By Kim Hyun-bin

Lotte Group has chosen the biotech industry and healthcare as its future growth engine and established a new healthcare division that will be headed by Lee Hoon-ki, an expert in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), to aggressively expand its business, according to company officials, Tuesday. Lee is considered to be Chairman Shin Dong-bin's close aide.

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin

The appointment of Lee as CEO provides a glimpse into Chairman Shin's strong will to strengthen the healthcare business. Lee is an M&A expert, and his appointment as CEO brings a high possibility of business expansion into the healthcare sector.

Lotte Group has continuously shown interest in healthcare even before the appointment of Lee. Last year, the company announced that it was reviewing its investments in the healthcare business, and established a healthcare team.

The company also recruited external experts, such as Vice President Woo Woong-jo, who served as the head of the Samsung Health Service platform at Samsung Electronics. Last month, they invested 70 billion won to establish Lotte Healthcare.

The reason Lotte Group entered the healthcare market is because of its high growth potential. The domestic healthcare market is expected to grow from about 237 trillion won in 2020 to about 450 trillion won in 2030.

The investments also come as the group's distribution and chemicals businesses, the two major axes of the group, suffered deteriorating profits due to external factors ― such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic ― which have left the company with no choice but to review new business opportunities. Healthcare is a business that is also expected to create synergies with food affiliates, such as the development of functional foods for health and health-oriented products.

"We have been searching for new sustainable growth engines, and strongly believe that the biotech industry and healthcare sector is suitable for us," a Lotte Group official said. "Also, the sector could generate synergies with our key affiliates such as hotels."