Taekwang Group, which became the owner of Aekyung Industrial, is expected to move to restructure targeting Aekyung Industrial's cosmetics subsidiary "ONE THING" to strengthen financial soundness.
According to ChosunBiz reporting compiled on the 17th, Taekwang Group is said to be internally reviewing possibilities such as the sale or absorption and merger of ONE THING.
In on the 17th, Aekyung Group's holding company AK Holdings signed a main contract to sell Aekyung Industrial, a cosmetics and household goods enterprise, to a consortium of Taekwang Industrial, T2 Private Equity, and Yuanta Investment (hereinafter Taekwang Group consortium). The Taekwang Group consortium will acquire 63.12% equity in Aekyung Industrial held by AK Holdings and Aekyung Asset Management for 470 billion won.
A source said, "Once Taekwang Group completes the process of acquiring Aekyung Industrial, there is talk of overhauling the operating plan for ONE THING," adding, "Among employees, there are also comments about whether they should decide their future, including changing jobs." ONE THING currently has about 20 employees.
ONE THING, which has been floated as a candidate to go under the knife, is a skincare cosmetics company founded in 2021 and acquired by Aekyung Industrial in 2022. At the time, Aekyung Industrial invested 14 billion won to purchase equity in ONE THING.
Because Aekyung Industrial's existing brands "AGE 20'S" and "LUNA" are color cosmetics, it planned to broaden its base into a skincare brand by acquiring ONE THING. With ONE THING already having entered Japan, China, and Southeast Asia, Aekyung Industrial judged that it could turn a profit if its distribution capabilities were added.
However, performance was sluggish. It posted a net profit of 500 million won in 2022 but swung to a net loss of about 300 million won the following year, and it also recorded a loss of 147.6 million won in 2024. By September, the net loss had widened to about 1.9 billion won. Ultimately, in Aug., ONE THING even raised 1 billion won from Aekyung Industrial for operating funds.
Aekyung Industrial generated average monthly sales of about 17.8 billion won this year, and if this trend continues, it will be difficult to achieve last year's sales level. Last year's sales came to 261.4 billion won, while sales through the end of Sept. this year totaled 159.9 billion won. As of the third quarter, the cosmetics business accounts for 33% of total sales.
Of the five subsidiaries, excluding "AK (Shanghai) Trading Co., Ltd.," a local Chinese corporation established by Aekyung Industrial for entry into China, only ONE THING has notably failed to gain traction. This has led to the view that ONE THING could become a restructuring target. Earlier, Aekyung Industrial liquidated "Aekyung ST," an air freshener manufacturer it had invested in for future business expansion, in Dec. last year.
However, a Taekwang Group official said, "There is still time before the transaction is closed, so we cannot know what discussions are taking place," adding, "We cannot confirm (matters related to winding down ONE THING)."
The Taekwang Group consortium plans to close the acquisition of Aekyung Industrial by Feb. next year. Earlier, Taekwang Industrial said regarding the acquisition of Aekyung Industrial that it was "for the purpose of securing a new growth engine by entering the K-beauty industry."