This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:21 p.m. on May 21, 2026.
Socar's largest shareholder, SOCAR, secured equity in KOSDAQ-listed Humax Holdings. Humax Holdings operates TruCar, the No. 3 car-sharing company, through its affiliate Humax Mobility, and SOCAR is the No. 1 car-sharing company by market share in Korea. That is why the industry is paying attention to the background of this equity acquisition.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 21st, a conversion right was recently exercised for 2.1 billion won out of the 3 billion won in Humax Holdings' 10th convertible bonds (CB). With this conversion right exercise, SOCAR will secure 10.69% equity in Humax Holdings. It will immediately rise to the No. 2 shareholder, following founder and current largest shareholder Chair Byun Dae-gyu's side.
SOCAR previously invested in the 3 billion won worth of 10th CB issued by Humax Holdings in March last year. The issuance terms include a coupon rate and maturity interest rate of 0% and 3%, respectively, and a call option and a put option. The conversion price at issuance was 2,451 won.
SOCAR is the largest shareholder holding 19.73% equity in SOCAR, and is an investment company in which SOCAR founder and chief operating officer (COO) Lee Jae-woong holds 83.33% equity.
Humax Holdings used all CB funds to repay borrowing fund from financial institutions and Humax. Given that the interest rate on the borrowing fund was in the 7%–9% range annually, the CB issuance at the time appeared to be part of simple refinancing.
However, as SOCAR converts part of the CB into stock, some analysts say the strategic cooperative relationship between the two companies will be strengthened. In this conversion, the conversion price was 8,586 won, and given that Humax Holdings' share price was 7,660 won at the closing price on the conversion request date, the stock conversion was carried out at a price about 20% higher than the market price. That is why it is hard to view this stock conversion as a simple investment aimed at stock price gains.
A person in the investment banking (IB) industry said, "Looking at SOCAR's recent moves, it is taking aggressive steps, including making large-scale investments to establish an autonomous driving corporation," adding, "Given the founders' relationship between the two companies, business reasons appear to be included in this equity acquisition."
In fact, the founders of the two companies are known to have a close personal connection. Chair Byun and COO Lee are first-generation domestic venture founders who have been active during a similar period, and they both participated in V Society, a group formed in 2000 of second- and third-generation conglomerate owners and venture businesspeople. Later, when Byun was appointed chair of Naver in 2017, Lee, who founded rival Daum Communications, publicly expressed support for Naver and Byun, calling them "a new model for the Korean economy."
In the past, there was also a business cooperative relationship between the two companies. Humax Holdings supplied SOCAR with a car-sharing system and in-vehicle terminals through its affiliate Digiparts (now Altimobility), which it acquired in 2018. However, as Humax Holdings acquired PeopleCar (now TruCar), the No. 3 player in the industry, in 2021, a competitive relationship is also taking shape in the car-sharing business.