Daemyung Sonogroup, a hotel and resort corporation, has received approval from the domestic competition authorities for its merger and acquisition with T’way Air.
According to the airline industry and others on the 11th, the Fair Trade Commission notified each company of the merger approval results regarding Daemyung Sonogroup's holding company, Sonointernational, T’way Air, and Tway Holdings the previous day.
Earlier, Sonointernational signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire all 52.34 million shares (46.26% stake) of Tway Holdings owned by YeaRimDang and its owner family, which was the largest shareholder of T’way Air, for 250 billion won, securing the management rights of T’way Air.
Subsequently, the Fair Trade Commission has been reviewing the merger application from Daemyung Sonogroup since early March.
The Fair Trade Commission reportedly determined there are no competitive restrictions resulting from the merger after comprehensively considering T’way Air's market share.
Daemyung Sonogroup plans to sequentially carry out major licensing procedures, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's major shareholder eligibility review and the approval for changing the air transport business license.
On the 24th, during a temporary shareholders' meeting of T’way Air, it plans to appoint nine candidates, including chairman Seo Jun-hyuk of Daemyung Sonogroup, as directors to form a new board of directors.
The current CEO, Jeong Hong-geun, who has held the position for the past 10 years at T’way Air, is expected to be replaced.
The next representative is expected to emerge from three new internal director candidates recommended by Daemyung Sonogroup, including Lee Sang-yun (51), an executive in charge of the aviation business task force, Ahn Woo-jin (50), an executive in charge of sales and marketing, and Seo Dong-bin (49), an executive in charge of the aviation business task force.
An official from Daemyung Sonogroup noted, "We will lead sustainable growth by adding T’way Air to our existing business portfolio, combining strengths in the leisure and aviation institutional sectors, and leapfrogging into a leading global hospitality corporation in the leisure industry."