Hoban Construction acquired the entire stake in Hanjin Kal held by KCGI… Possibility of management disputes

Enter 2022.03.28 17:12
Edited 2022.03.28 17:12

Once the “simple investment” purpose… When combined with Bando Construction, the third largest shareholder, the stake is in the mid-30% range.

Hoban Construction has acquired the entire stake in KCGI, a private equity fund (PEF) manager, the second largest shareholder of Hanjin KAL.

Hoban Construction announced on the 28th that it had acquired 11,866,917 shares of Hanjin Kal (17.43% stake).

The purpose of holding is a ‘simple investment’ with only voting rights at the general shareholders’ meeting.

This is distinct from ‘general investment’ where you can claim dividend rights or ‘management participation’ for the purpose of management participation.

An official from Hoban Construction said, “KCGI will acquire all of the stocks held by KCGI and become the second-largest shareholder of Hanjin KAL. “, explained.

Hoban Construction previously made a sole bid to take over Kumho Industrial, the parent company of Asiana Airlines, in 2015, but the takeover attempt was canceled due to the refusal of creditors.

From the perspective of Hoban Construction, which has this background, industry analysts say that the equity investment in Hanjin KAL was attractive in the process of integrating national airlines into one.

As of the closing date of the shareholder list (end of last year), major shareholders of Hanjin Kal held 20.79% of stakes related to Chairman Cho Won-tae, 17.27% of KCGI, 16.89% of Bando E&C, 13.10% of Delta Air Lines and 10.50% of Korea Development Bank.

KCGI bought a stake in Hanjin Kal in 2018 and became the second-largest shareholder at once.

In 2020, he formed a three-party alliance with Bando Construction and former Korean Air Vice President Cho Hyun-ah and continued the dispute over management rights.

However, in November of the same year, Korea Development Bank participated in Hanjin KAL’s capital increase in the process of supporting Korean Air’s acquisition of Asiana Airlines and became a major shareholder.

Afterwards, KCGI applied to the court to block Hanjin Kal’s issuance of new shares once morest Korea Development Bank, but it was rejected.

However, it is analyzed that the dispute over management rights of Hanjin Group has entered a new phase with Hoban Construction’s acquisition of KCGI’s stake.

There are also observations that Hoban Construction and Bando Construction, the same construction company and the second and third largest shareholders, can join hands.

The combined stake of the two construction companies is in the mid-30% range.

An official from Hoban Construction said, “As it was announced as a simple participation, it means that there is no intention to participate in the management right now.”

/yunhap news