Four South Korean companies applied for government approval on Tuesday to become the first beneficiary of the newly established law aimed at facilitating voluntary corporate restructuring, the trade ministry here said.

The Special Act on the Corporate Revitalization, dubbed "one-shot act," came into effect on Saturday to help businesses carry out an intra-corporate merger and spin-off through simplified procedures including exemptions from the strict antitrust laws and financial market regulations. They will be also given tax benefits and subsidies for research and development on corporate restructuring.

Under the new law, the companies that want to benefit from the fast-track procedures are required to win government approval.

Hanwha Chemical Corp., a chemical arm of Hanwha Group, and three other firms, who refused to disclose their names, filed their application before the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which has to make a decision within 60 days.

"It is desirable to sanction 10 to 13 companies in a year, given the size of the economy," said a ministry official. "We received four applications on the first day. It's an encouraging start."

Hanwha Chemical is seeking to sell its chlorine and caustic soda plant to Unid Co., a local chemicals manufacturer, as part of its business reorganizing efforts to deal with industry-wide oversupply of such materials.

The South Korean government has put its policy priority on corporate restructuring, while its key industries like shipbuilding and steelmaking sectors have been suffering from massive losses stemming from plunging overseas demand.

The one-shot act was designed to encourage businesses to pre-emptively carry out corporate restructuring on their own initiative. (Yonhap)