It has been confirmed that Woo Ki-won, CEO of SM Hiplus and the youngest son of Woo Oh-hyun, chairman of SM Group, has stepped down as CEO of his privately owned company Najin. With Chairman Woo now in his mid-70s, speculation is mounting that the succession process within SM Group is accelerating, and Woo Ki-won's move is being interpreted as a step to focus on the group's management.
According to SM Group on the 18th, Woo Ki-won has stepped down as CEO of Najin, in which he holds 100% equity, and has also relinquished his position as an internal director. The new CEO of Najin is Koo Gun-mo, head of Woobang Technical Headquarters. SM Group explained that Najin appointed an executive from the group's construction company, Woobang, as the new CEO for its real estate development project in the Daegu region.
Najin is currently expanding its business aggressively. In the business community, there are anticipations that as Najin grows larger, Woo Ki-won could leverage this to secure equity in the holding companies, Samra or Samra Midas. Securing equity in a holding company would grant control over the group's management.
Najin announced plans to acquire land in various locations including Gwangjin-gu in Seoul, Paju in Gyeonggi Province, and Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province, starting with its successful bid for the Golden Plaza in Bokhyeon-dong, Buk-gu, Daegu, for 14.3 billion won. The total amount for these acquisitions is approximately 20.2 billion won.
Najin is also participating in the acquisition of CNH, which is under court receivership. CNH began as a specialized non-banking financial business and is engaged in hotel operations, imported car sales, car rentals, and food franchising, with total assets amounting to 200 billion won as of the first quarter of this year. Once Najin completes its real estate transactions and the acquisition of CNH, the asset size, previously only 1.5 billion won, is expected to increase significantly.
SM Group has a circular investment structure (A→B→C→A) among its affiliates, making it difficult to restructure the ownership within a short period. The industry believes that there is a high possibility of a reorganization centered around Samra and Samra Midas, which hold significant equity in the group's five major business sectors: manufacturing, construction, shipping, media services, and leisure. Woo Ki-won holds 2.43% equity in Samra and 25.99% equity in Samra Midas.
As of the end of last year, Samra Midas is the largest shareholder with a 41.4% equity stake in SM Shipping, which accounts for 45% (7.681 trillion won) of the total assets of the group, valued at 17.79 trillion won. Samra also holds a 29.09% equity stake in SM Shipping.
Additionally, Samra Midas holds equity in SM Bexel, Woobang, Dong-A Construction Industry, SM Industry, and Kukil Paper. Samra also retains stakes in various affiliates including Woobang, Namsun Aluminum, Dong-A Construction Industry, SM Steel, SM Credit Information, SM Industry, and SM Asset Development.
An official from SM Group stated, "The expansion of Najin's business is happening independently of succession," adding, "Nothing has been decided regarding succession, and there will be no changes to Woo Ki-won's positions within the group."