Kolmar Group founder Yoon Dong-han, chair of Kolmar Korea, has withdrawn a lawsuit seeking the return of shares from his eldest son, Yoon Sang-hyun, vice chair of Kolmar Holdings. With Yoon's side agreeing to the withdrawal, the courtroom battle between father and son over gifted shares ended without a court ruling.
According to Kolmar Korea and the legal community on the 27th, Yoon's side filed a motion to withdraw the suit with the Seoul Central District Court on the 22nd. Yoon's side submitted consent to the withdrawal on the 26th, and the case was dismissed the same day.
With Yoon, who had filed the suit, stepping back and Yoon Sang-hyun's side accepting it, the share-return lawsuit ended in a result favorable to the vice chair. Yoon will retain his status as the largest shareholder of Kolmar Holdings.
The starting point of the dispute goes back to 2018. That year, as Yoon stepped down from front-line management, he drafted an agreement granting overall control of the group's operations to Vice Chair Yoon and control of Kolmar BNH to his daughter, CEO Yoon Yeo-won. It also specifies that, as a shareholder and manager of Kolmar Holdings, the vice chair must provide support or cooperation within the bounds of the law so that CEO Yoon can properly exercise the business management rights in Kolmar BNH granted by the chair.
Afterward, in 2019, Yoon gifted most of his shares in holding company Kolmar Holdings to his daughter, son-in-law, and others. At that time, the vice chair received about 2.3 million shares, which increased to about 4.6 million shares after Kolmar Holdings carried out a 1-for-1 bonus issue in 2024.
The ownership family's management agreement flared into conflict in April last year when the vice chair demanded that Kolmar BNH appoint him and former CJ CheilJedang Executive Vice President Lee Seung-hwa as inside directors. In the process, on May 30 last year, the chair filed a civil suit seeking to rescind the gift contract for about 4.6 million Kolmar Holdings shares previously given to the vice chair, citing a breach of the management agreement, and demanded the return of the shares.
In response, the vice chair's side maintained that the agreement was nothing more than a simple understanding among family members. They also argued that the stock gift was a simple gift, not a conditional gift with obligations attached, and therefore there was no duty to return the shares.
However, with the chair withdrawing the suit, the vice chair is expected to maintain his position as the largest shareholder and CEO of Kolmar Holdings, and Kolmar Group is expected to further solidify its second-generation management structure.