Humasis Finds New Owner... Management Dispute Temporarily Settled

Contract with Artist Cosmetic
Management Rights Transfer Scheduled for 28th Next Month
Temporary General Meeting Lawsuit to Be Withdrawn

Humasis COVID-19 self-test diagnostic kit 'Humasis COVID-19 Home Test' is being sold at a pharmacy in Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] Diagnostic kit company Humasis is welcoming a new owner. With the signing of the acquisition contract, the management rights dispute with the minority shareholders' association is also expected to be resolved.

Humasis announced on the 27th that it had signed a share transfer contract involving a change of the largest shareholder with Artist Cosmetic. If the share transfer under this contract proceeds normally, the management rights of Humasis will be taken over by Artist Cosmetic. Artist Cosmetic will purchase 7.65% (2.6 million shares) of the shares held by CEO Cha Jeonghak, the former largest shareholder of Humasis, and three others at 25,059 KRW per share, totaling 65 billion KRW. According to the contract terms, the remaining payment and share transfer are scheduled to be completed on the 28th of next month. On the day the transfer is completed, Humasis plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to appoint directors from the new shareholder side and transfer management rights.

Artist Cosmetic is a company engaged in cosmetics, corporate advisory, and management consulting businesses, with Mirae I&G as its largest shareholder.

This acquisition decision also marks the final stage in resolving the management rights dispute between Humasis and the minority shareholders' association. Humasis announced on the same day that the lawsuit filed by the minority shareholders' association requesting inspection of the shareholder registry and permission for an extraordinary general meeting had been withdrawn. The minority shareholders of Humasis had demanded a change in management, arguing that CEO Cha Jeonghak did not properly implement shareholder-friendly policies despite significantly improved performance due to COVID-19. In response, CEO Cha stated on the 17th that "various measures, including expanding cash dividends, establishing communication channels, and strengthening IR activities, are being actively considered reflecting shareholders' opinions."

Meanwhile, Humasis announced it would take legal action regarding the termination of a 91.9 billion KRW diagnostic kit supply contract with Celltrion at the end of last year. The contract to supply COVID-19 diagnostic kits to Celltrion was signed on January 22 of last year, with an initial contract amount of approximately 133.6 billion KRW. Of this, about 44.7 billion KRW was fulfilled according to the contract, while Humasis claims that Celltrion unilaterally terminated the remaining 91.9 billion KRW. On the other hand, Celltrion stated that the contract reduction was justified due to Humasis's fault.