This article was published on Nov. 13, 2025, at 5:04 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Sono International, which operates an integrated resort business, will sell the Munjeong-dong building it currently uses as its headquarters. It was confirmed that the company designed a master lease structure to quickly refill the coffers depleted by the acquisition of T'way Air and hotels and resorts. Through this asset securitization, Sono International secured investment ammunition worth several hundred billion won.
According to the investment banking industry on the 13th, Sono International signed a contract on Nov. 7 to sell Sono Tower, located in Munjeong-dong, Songpa District, Seoul, to HL REITs Management (HL REITs Management), an operating company affiliated with HL Group (formerly Hanla Group). The total sale price was set at 250 billion won, with a per-pyeong (3.3㎡) transaction price of about 24 million won. That amount ranks among the top for medium-to-large offices with a total floor area of more than 10,000 pyeong traded in the Munjeong-dong area.
It appears Sono International signed a master lease agreement with HL REITs Management to complete the transaction. Sono International will rent the entire Sono Tower and then sublease it. From HL REITs Management's perspective, it can stably secure rental revenue from Sono International. The lease term between Sono International and HL REITs Management is eight years, from the day before (Nov. 12) until Nov. 11, 2033.
Sono Tower is the first company-owned building that Daemyung Sono Group acquired in its 37 years since its founding. It was completed in March 2016. The office building was developed on a site area of 3,780㎡, with a total floor area of 34,140㎡ (13,270 pyeong), and comprises four basement levels to 16 aboveground floors. Currently, Sono International and other major affiliates of Daemyung Sono Group use it as their headquarters.
Sono International will reinvest 19 billion won as equity in the vehicle acquiring Sono Tower. Class A preferred shares will see Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) and NH Investment & Securities' Kep1er Private Real Estate Investment Trust No. 6 each put in 40 billion won and 20 billion won, respectively. Class B preferred shares totaling 60 billion won will be acquired by HL REITs Management, ESTec, ESTec First and ESTec Plus.
Daemyung Sono Group has been executing extensive investments this year. In March it invested 250 billion won to acquire a 46.3% stake in Tway Holdings, the largest shareholder of T'way Air, and recently participated in a third-party allotment capital increase to improve T'way Air's financial structure, contributing an additional 90 billion won. It is also purchasing resorts and hotels in Thailand and Indonesia, where T'way Air flies.
Securing ammunition is important as the acquisition of T'way Air prompts large-scale funding to create synergies with its core resort business. Especially given the airline industry's characteristics—equipment purchases and leases, exchange rates, fuel prices and maintenance costs among many variable factors—continuous capital injections are inevitable.
Earlier, Sono International said resolving T'way Air's capital erosion is a prerequisite for a future IPO. Since it will be difficult to raise funds through a public offering for the time being, the sale of the Munjeong building is seen as a meaningful way to secure funds within the group. Affiliate Daemyung Station is also pursuing the sale of the Seowon Building in Seocho-dong that it owns.