Aekyung Industrial Co., which is welcoming Taekwang Group as its new owner, is reorganizing its management system and overhauling its domestic and overseas businesses. The Aekyung Group Oner family is stepping back from front-line management, and with an appointee from T. K. Corporation joining the board, the new system is expected to settle in quickly.
According to industry sources on the 25th, Aekyung Industrial Co. will hold a regular shareholders meeting on the 26th and wrap up the merger and acquisition (M&A) process with Taekwang Industrial. This shareholders meeting effectively marks the conclusion of the company acquisition process and is set to be the starting point of the Taekwang system.
Earlier, the two companies delayed the transaction closing date compared with the original plan while renegotiating the price due to the 2080 toothpaste recall. On the 19th of last month, each company held a board meeting, postponed the closing to March, and has since been completing the related procedures.
The composition of Aekyung Industrial Co.'s management will also change through the shareholders meeting that day. Aekyung Industrial Co. plans to reappoint Executive Director and CEO Kim Sang-jun. Vice Chairman Chai Dong-seok, the Aekyung Group Oner family member, will step down from the CEO post, establishing a sole leadership structure under CEO Kim.
Most of the existing executives will remain in place to maintain management stability, while Vice President Jeong In-cheol, who oversees future businesses at Taekwang Industrial, is expected to newly join as an outside nonexecutive director. Jeong is expected to lead the post-merger integration (PMI) process going forward.
Starting with this shareholders meeting, Aekyung Industrial Co. will begin in earnest to settle its system under the new owner. For the time being, it plans to focus on stabilizing the organization through PMI. To reduce initial confusion, it will keep its existing Mapo, Seoul, office for about a year and continue to use the "Aekyung" corporate name as is.
It will also continue the ongoing overhaul of domestic and overseas businesses. In particular, it plans to strengthen the global push for cosmetics (beauty) and hair care brands and pursue market diversification not only in North America but also in Europe, Southeast Asia and South America. Internally, efforts are gaining momentum to move away from a China-centric overseas strategy and reorganize the regional portfolio.
Taekwang Industrial has so far maintained a manufacturing portfolio centered on petrochemicals and textiles, but with the acquisition of Aekyung Industrial Co., it is moving to expand into a business-to-consumer (B2C) business focused on domestic consumer goods. With a strong intent to increase the share of consumer goods and new businesses, attention is focusing on the reorganization centered on Aekyung Industrial Co.
Aekyung Industrial Co. was the founding industry and a key subsidiary of Aekyung Group, but as the group's overall cash crunch worsened, a sale was ultimately pursued. The sale price was initially discussed at around 470 billion won, but it was reduced by about 22.5 billion won (4.8%) due to the impact of the toothpaste recall.