Chairman Yoon Dong-han, the founder of Kolmar Group, has filed a lawsuit against his son, Yoon Sang-hyun, the vice chairman of Kolmar Holdings, seeking the return of shares he gifted to him. This seems to be a response as tensions escalated recently between Vice Chairman Yoon and his sister Yoon Yeo-won, the CEO of Kolmar BNH.
According to Kolmar BNH on the 18th, Chairman Yoon filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court on May 30 against Vice Chairman Yoon, claiming the return of shares of Kolmar Holdings. The lawsuit aims to reclaim shares that were gifted to Vice Chairman Yoon with conditions in 2019.
In September 2018, Chairman Yoon signed a management agreement with his oldest son, Vice Chairman Yoon, and his eldest daughter, CEO Yoon, regarding the future governance structure of Kolmar BNH. The agreement stipulated that Vice Chairman Yoon would oversee the management of Kolmar Holdings and Kolmar Group, while CEO Yoon would lead Kolmar BNH.
Subsequently, Chairman Yoon gifted 2.3 million shares of Kolmar Holdings to Vice Chairman Yoon, making him the largest shareholder of Kolmar Holdings.
However, changes occurred as Kolmar BNH's business performance deteriorated. The operating profit of Kolmar BNH plummeted from 109.2 billion won in 2020 to 24.6 billion won last year.
As the impact of poor management reached the holding company Kolmar Holdings, Vice Chairman Yoon attempted to propose shareholders to appoint himself and Lee Seung-hwa, former vice president of CJ CheilJedang, as internal directors at Kolmar BNH.
This has led to Chairman Yoon's backlash, culminating in the stock return lawsuit. Previously, during the Kolmar anniversary ceremony in May, Chairman Yoon emphasized, "The cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors will be led by Vice Chairman Yoon, and the health functional food sector represented by Kolmar BNH will be managed by CEO Yoon, as a result of thorough discussions and agreements."
Chairman Yoon's legal representative stated, "This lawsuit is a response to Vice Chairman Yoon's attempt to unilaterally change the agreed succession structure, abusing his authority as the largest shareholder." It was noted that "if Chairman Yoon had known of such behavior, he would not have gifted those shares, and the shares in question must be returned immediately."