Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin Group, has initiated measures to defend management rights against equity expansion by Hoban Construction.
Hanjin KAL, the holding company of Hanjin Group, announced on the 15th that it will grant 440,044 shares of its own stock to the Employee Welfare Fund. This represents 0.66% of equity based on common shares. The share price of the granted stock is 150,600 won per share based on the previous day's closing price, totaling 66.27 billion won. With this grant of its own stock, all shares previously held by Hanjin KAL will regain voting rights.
As a result of this grant, the friendly equity of Chairman Cho's side increased from 19.96% to 20.66%, widening the equity gap with Hoban Construction from 1.5 percentage points to 2.16 percentage points. Hoban Construction had increased its equity stake in Hanjin KAL from 17.44% to 18.46% on the 12th, raising the possibility of a management dispute.
Stocks of Hanjin KAL fluctuated sharply amid expectations of a management dispute with Hoban Construction. They recorded the upper limit for two consecutive days on the 13th and 14th, and on that day, they closed at 125,000 won, down 17% due to profit-taking.
Meanwhile, on that day, Hanjin KAL separately announced that it would acquire 150,469 shares of its affiliate, Jeongseok Company, for 52.062 billion won. Hanjin KAL explained that this is a measure to strengthen its control over Jeongseok Company. As a result, the equity stake held by Hanjin KAL in Jeongseok Company will increase to 60.49%.