This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 5:24 p.m. on Jan. 5, 2026.
Taekwang Group split off wine distributor Mervain from Tisys and moved it under TRN. The aim is to create synergy with the home shopping business that TRN operates. The company said it is a self-rescue measure to overcome Mervain's growth stagnation.
After making TRN a company 100% controlled by the owner family last year, Taekwang Group has now made Mervain a wholly owned subsidiary of TRN, building its governance around the two pillars of TRN and Tisys. Mervain was sold to TRN for just 2 billion won this time, and if it grows as planned by the group and its profits increase significantly, those profits could be attributed more directly to the owner family.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 5th, Mervain's largest shareholder changed from Tisys to TRN as of Dec. 31 last year. Mervain was the company at the center of a past controversy over forced wine purchases among affiliates.
The transaction was carried out by Tisys selling 15,325 common shares (100%) of Mervain to TRN. The deal value is about 2.08 billion won.
A Taekwang Group official said, "Mervain has recently suffered declining sales and growth stagnation, making a reorganization of business strategy inevitable to overcome this," adding, "We will incorporate Mervain as a TRN subsidiary to combine it with TRN's shopping infrastructure and roll out more aggressive marketing, including expanding the sales mix of luxury wine brands."
Mervain's annual sales are only in the 1 billion won range, and even that has been falling every year. They gradually decreased from 1.92113 billion won in 2021 to 1.49379 billion won in 2022, 1.22209 billion won in 2023, and 1.19724 billion won in 2024.
The effect TRN will gain by making Mervain a wholly owned subsidiary is still minor. As it posted a loss in 2023 and only 86 million won in net income in 2024, paying dividends right away is difficult.
However, by moving Mervain from Tisys to under TRN, Taekwang Group is seen to have clarified the bifurcation of its governance into the two axes of Tisys and TRN.
TRN is an owner family company in which former Chairman Lee Ho-jin (51.8%), eldest son Lee Hyun-joon (39.36%), eldest daughter Lee Hyun-na (1.24%), the former chairman's spouse, Shin Yu-na (1.24%), Iljuse Hwahakyewon (1.76%), and the Ilju Academic and Cultural Foundation (0.06%) hold all the equity.
Taekwang Industrial (3.32%) and Tisys (1.19%) were originally shareholders, but they disposed of their equity in June last year. TRN acquired the equity as treasury shares. At the time, Taekwang cited "improving governance by resolving cross- and circular shareholdings" as the reason.
IT services company Tisys also has equity held by the owner family, including the former chairman (4.23%), Lee Hyun-joon (11.3%), and Lee Hyun-na (0.55%), but the equity ratios of Taekwang Industrial (46.3%) and Daehan Synthetic Fiber (31.6%) are overwhelmingly high. Unlike TRN, it is directly influenced by listed companies within the group (Taekwang Industrial and Daehan Synthetic Fiber).
With Mervain's move, only the core financial affiliates Heungkuk Life Insurance and the private equity (PE) firm T2 Private Equity remain under Tisys. It has effectively been reorganized around IT and financial services. There is also the disability employment enterprise "Big Hope," but it is relatively small in scale.
In contrast, under TRN are Taekwang Industrial and Daehan Synthetic Fiber, as well as the broadcaster Tcast and the wine distributor Mervain. It has been structured so that manufacturing, content, and distribution businesses are all under TRN.
An IB industry official said, "Taekwang Group's asset size is close to the threshold for designation as a business group subject to restrictions on mutual investment, and if it converts to a holding company structure in the future, organizing the complex equity relationships by business line could help."