Im Jong-hoon, CEO of Hanmi Fine Chemical and the second son of the late founder Lim Sung-ki of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, sold a 2.50% equity stake in the holding company Hanmi Science.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 2nd, CEO Im Jong-hoon signed an over-the-counter sale contract on the 29th for 1,709,788 common shares (2.50%) of Hanmi Science. The transaction size is about 82.06982 billion won, and the price per share is 48,000 won.
The buyer is the NAU IB Capital No. 22 Fund, and the transaction will take place from Aug. 5 to Sept. 3. Once the transaction is completed, Im's equity ratio will fall from 5.09% to 2.59%.
Regarding the background of this transaction, CEO Im said in a disclosure that it was for the purpose of "securing cash liquidity."
However, the market is focusing on the fact that equity is moving as tensions have flared again between major shareholder Shin Dong-kuk, chairman of Hanyang Precision Co., who holds a 29.83% equity stake in Hanmi Science, and the founder family's mother and daughter (Chairwoman Song Young-sook and Vice Chairwoman Im Ju-hyun) of the Hanmi Group.
Earlier, as legal disputes such as a recent 60 billion won penalty claim lawsuit arose between the mother-daughter pair, Chairwoman Song and Vice Chairwoman Im, and Chairman Shin Dong-kuk, questions were raised about a potential rift in the existing "four-party alliance."
The industry is watching whether the equity shift by CEO Im Jong-hoon will trigger a reconfiguration of the equity landscape among Hanmi Group's key stakeholders. An industry official said, "In effect, CEO Im transferred it as a friendly equity stake to the mother-daughter side."
Chairman Shin Dong-kuk's side holds about 29.83% in equity, while the Hanmi Group owner family (including Song Young-sook and Im Ju-hyun) and family-friendly and allied equity amount to about 31.05%. Some say that if other institutions and the founder family's existing friendly equity consolidate on the mother-daughter side, their overall influence could expand to around 40%.
Regarding this equity sale, CEO Im Jong-hoon emphasized carrying on the founder's spirit and stabilizing management.
Through a statement, CEO Im said, "This is a decision made after much deliberation to carry forward the management philosophy and will of my father, the late Chairman Lim Sung-ki, with the greatest sincerity."
Im said, "With this decision, I hope an environment will be established in which unnecessary controversy disappears and we can accelerate management efforts to raise corporate value."
Im added, "Together with my mother, Chairwoman Song Young-sook, and my older sister, Vice Chairwoman Im Ju-hyun, I will do everything that can help the company's growth to carry on my father's dream of serving the nation through pharmaceuticals," adding, "I hope my decision helps 'make Hanmi true to Hanmi' and stabilizes the group's governance."
Meanwhile, after the death of founder and former Chairman Lim Sung-ki in Aug. 2020, a management control dispute arose within Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group between the mother-daughter pair and the brothers due to inheritance tax issues. At the center stood the "key man" who decided the outcome of the management dispute: Chairman Shin. A junior from the late Lim Sung-ki's hometown, he helped the founder family resolve their inheritance tax issues and expanded his control by increasing his equity in Hanmi Science and Hanmi Pharmaceutical.
In the early stages of the control fight, Chairman Shin initially sided with the brothers (Im Jong-yoon, co-chairman of Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical, and Im Jong-hoon, inside director of Hanmi Science) and later joined hands with the mother-daughter pair (Chairwoman Song Young-sook of Hanmi Science and Vice Chairwoman Im Ju-hyun of Hanmi Science) to sign a shareholder agreement, forming a four-party alliance.
But recently, cracks have appeared in the alliance. The dispute continued after Chairman Shin issued exchangeable bonds (EB) backed by his Hanmi Pharmaceutical equity last year. The mother-daughter side filed a lawsuit, saying it was effectively no different from disposing of equity, and provisionally seized Shin's home and part of his equity. As the internal split within the four-party alliance surfaced, Chairman Shin raised a borrowing fund amounting to as much as 213.7 billion won to expand his equity. The four-party alliance's contract is reportedly set to expire in 2029.