Immediately after OURHOME's management rights were acquired by Hanwha Group, Lee Young-pyo, the CEO of OURHOME, posted an article on the company's intranet about the background of the equity sale and the acquisition issues.
According to the distribution industry on the 13th, Lee Young-pyo, the CEO of OURHOME, said in a post that he would speak about the company's changes, noting, "I believe it is my final mission to break the vicious cycle of management disputes and create a company where employees can work with pride."
Lee noted, "It is not the only way to inherit the founding spirit simply by passing it down through the household of the former chairman, and if a capable management entity can further grow OURHOME and make it a respected corporation, then I believe the founding spirit is being continued."
He also addressed the issues of employment succession and performance compensation. He stated, "The guarantee of employees' job security and treatment was explicitly stated in the contract by the chairman to ensure there were no disadvantages." He also added regarding last year's performance compensation, "There were difficulties in determining performance compensation due to the unrealistic and excessive goal setting by the previous management," and stated, "We will implement performance compensation for last year based on improved systems and criteria when salaries are paid in February and will ensure that the regular personnel changes in March will not be delayed by even a day."
Lee served as the chief of staff for the late Ku Ja-hak, the former chairman, and held the position of chief financial officer at OURHOME. After the sibling management dispute ended in favor of former vice chairman Ku Bon-seong and her older sister Ku Mi-hyun in May last year, he took on the role of the CEO to lead OURHOME in place of the two who found it difficult to take on management responsibilities.
He stated, "I entered OURHOME, which was formerly LG Distribution, and I am a person who directly experienced the entire process of OURHOME," adding, "In the past, OURHOME was the envy of the industry. At least it was such a company until the former chairman managed it." He continued, "The current OURHOME has disintegrated its organization each time management rights change due to disputes among shareholders, talented individuals have left, and the management policies established by the previous management have changed as easily as flipping over a palm," and pointed out, "Whenever the system stabilizes, the management rights change again, repeating the detrimental effects."
Moreover, Lee remarked, "There are those who express their discomfort while reminiscing about the former chairman. If we could continue to thrive solely based on the household of the former chairman, what would there be to worry about?" He continued, "My view is that to break the vicious cycle of management disputes and ensure that employees can work without worrying about the future of the company, creating an environment where they can take pride in being the owners of the company is my final mission working with OURHOME."
Hanwha Hotels & Resorts established a temporary entity called OURHOME F&B on the 11th under the leadership of Vice President Kim Dong-sun and entered into a stock purchase agreement (SPA) with former vice chairman Ku Bon-seong and chairman Ku Mi-hyun of OURHOME, among two others. The purchase agreement amount is approximately 896.5 billion won.