This article was published on Jan. 20, 2025, at 3:56 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Kim Dong-sun, vice president of Hanwha Group's third son, who is pushing for the acquisition of OURHOME, is reported to have visited all of OURHOME's factories and logistics centers nationwide last year. This indicates that Kim's determination to acquire OURHOME is strong.
Hanwha Group expects that if it acquires OURHOME, it can create business synergy effects in various aspects. It believes that it can collaborate not only with Hanwha Galleria and Hanwha Hotels and Resorts but also with Hanwha Vision, which is participating in this acquisition.
According to investment banking (IB) and distribution industry sources on the 20th, Vice President Kim reportedly visited 23 OURHOME business sites nationwide last November and conducted on-site inspections. OURHOME currently operates a total of nine factories in Gyeonggi Province's Ansan and Yongin, Chungbuk's Eumseong and Jecheon, Chungnam's Gyeryong, Gyeongbuk's Gumi, and Gyeongnam's Yangsan.
Vice President Kim is also said to have directly visited 14 logistics centers nationwide. OURHOME's logistics centers are evenly distributed in Gyeonggi Province's Ansan, Yongin, and Gwangju (Dongseoul), Chungbuk's Eumseong, Jecheon, and Cheongwon, Chungnam's Gyeryong, Gyeongbuk's Gumi, Gyeongnam's Yangsan, Gwangju, and Jeju.
An official familiar with the company's circumstances noted, "Since the logistics centers are distributed, I understand that Vice President Kim undertook an almost nationwide tour schedule," adding, "In addition, he visited about ten meal service establishments, sampling the meals one by one as part of the inspections."
Among the OURHOME meal service establishments that Vice President Kim visited were GS Tower in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul, LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Severance Hospital in Yongin, and the SmileGate headquarters in Pangyo.
The timing of Vice President Kim's inspection of OURHOME establishments last November coincides with Hanwha's claim that it granted former Vice Chairman Koo Ji-eun the final opportunity to exercise preemptive purchase rights. Hanwha's side maintains that they provided several opportunities for Koo to exercise the preemptive purchase rights from September to November last year, and they now assert that these rights have no effect. In response, Koo's side has countered that proper procedures for exercising the preemptive purchase rights had not even begun.
Industry sources say that Vice President Kim's determination regarding the acquisition of OURHOME is strong. Although there are concerns that the corporate value set at 1.5 trillion won by Hanwha is too high, it is stated that Hanwha is confident in its ability to generate sufficient value beyond that through collaboration with Hanwha affiliates after the acquisition.
Hanwha's position is that the subsidiaries can utilize OURHOME's food distribution network to achieve "economies of scale." With Hanwha Galleria actively developing food and beverage businesses, such as bringing the burger brand "Five Guys" to Korea and establishing a subsidiary for ice cream, it is believed that they can benefit from cost advantages by sourcing ingredients through OURHOME.
Hanwha Vision, a subsidiary of Vice President Kim's side that was expected to provide around 300 billion won for the acquisition, is also anticipated to create synergies with OURHOME. An official from the distribution industry explained, "For example, if the flow within a business site is inefficient, the distance workers have to travel would be long, but if they optimize the flow through automation, they would need to move only half the distance," adding, "Hanwha Vision's solution division can realize such labor productivity enhancements and improve inventory and logistics efficiency, thus increasing profit margins."
The industry anticipates that if Hanwha acquires OURHOME, the captive supply from LG Group will disappear, but Hanwha Group's supply could fill the void. This suggests that Hanwha's affiliates could form another captive market by utilizing OURHOME at their business sites.