The Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, where the founder's family members are in conflict with each other in a management rights dispute for nearly a year, is nearing the end of the dispute. The eldest son among the siblings, Lim Jong-yun, a director of Hanmi Science and Hanmi Pharmaceutical, has agreed to sell equity to a four-person coalition led by his mother, effectively ending the management rights dispute and marking a victory for the coalition.
On the 26th, Hanmi Science announced that Director Lim Jong-yun signed a contract to sell 5% of his shares to the four-person coalition (Chairwoman Song Young-sook, Vice Chairman Lim Joo-hyun, Dong-guk Shin, Chairman of Hanyang Precision, and Killington Limited). The total amount from the stock sale is 126.5 billion won. This contract involves transferring 42.3% of the 8,065,822 shares (11.79%) held by Director Lim to the opposing party in the management rights dispute.
The four-person coalition stated, "Through this agreement, we expect to stabilize the group's governance issues promptly and resolve most of the overhang issues that have suppressed shareholder value for a long time."
They added, "The cooperation and harmony among the major shareholders will not only end the management rights dispute but will also greatly help in enhancing shareholder value. In the future, Hanmi will pursue sustainable development towards 'Global Hanmi' with one large direction, and we expect Lim Jong-yun to actively support the four-person coalition in this process."
As the first step towards mutual cooperation, the four-person coalition and shareholder Lim Jong-yun decided to withdraw all civil and criminal complaints lodged against each other.
Thus, the management rights dispute of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, which has continued for a year, has effectively come to an end. Currently, the Hanmi Science board consists of a total of 10 members: 5 from the four-person coalition, 3 from Director Lim, and 2 from Lim Jong-hoon, the younger brother and representative of Hanmi Science. Previously, the coalition and the siblings were evenly matched at a 5 to 5 balance. However, following Director Lim's decision to sell equity to the coalition, the siblings' alliance has practically collapsed.
If a member from Director Lim's side joins forces with the four-person coalition, it is possible to convene the board immediately and dismiss the representative Lim. This is because the coalition has the authority to remove directors, having secured more than two-thirds of the equity based on voting rights. The likelihood of the mother-daughter coalition taking control of the Hanmi Science board has increased.
Meanwhile, regarding the news of Director Lim's equity sale, Lim Jong-hoon expressed, "It is known that my older brother made this decision out of frustration, realizing that continuing the conflict like this would not work in various ways," adding that "He is in discussions with my older brother."