HLB Global Acquires Media Commerce Company TI Corporation

HLB Global logo (Photo by HLB Global)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] HLB Global announced on the 1st that it has signed a stock transfer agreement to acquire 1,000 shares, representing 100% of the total shares, of TI Corporation for 25 billion KRW. Of the acquisition funds, 14 billion KRW will be replaced with bonds with warrants (BW) to be issued by HLB Global. Accordingly, HLB Global's actual cash burden amounts to approximately 11 billion KRW.

Once the acquisition process is completed, TI Corporation will become a 100% subsidiary of HLB Global. Taein Oh, the current largest shareholder and CEO of TI Corporation, will continue to participate in management as a major shareholder of HLB Global.

Since its establishment in 2019, TI Corporation has been a direct-to-consumer (D2C) company that develops new products by analyzing consumer preferences and demand for various products based on its media platform, and sells products through its own online mall. It offers a diverse product lineup including beauty, fashion, sports, and automobiles, which have high customer demand. Last year, it achieved sales of 15.4 billion KRW and an operating profit of 1.8 billion KRW. This year, cumulative sales up to the third quarter reached 16.3 billion KRW, with an operating profit of 2.4 billion KRW, continuing its growth trend.

HLB Global, which operates food and beverage and cosmetics businesses such as ‘I'm Alive Kombucha’ and ‘Elisha Coy’ through its subsidiaries Freshco and HLB Life Health, plans to strengthen its marketing capabilities and realize economies of scale by integrating logistics systems through this acquisition of TI Corporation, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of its entire product lineup.

Jongwon Kim, CEO of HLB Global, said, “Following the diversification of B2C products that has raised corporate awareness and laid the foundation for growth, and the establishment of a media commerce sales network, we expect to achieve substantial growth synergy. We will strive to maximize profit generation next year through close collaboration among subsidiaries.”