[At a Crossroads] Unichem② Transferring Resort Project Rights Worth 520 Billion Won to CEO Jangwon Lee

CEO Jangwon Lee's Controlling Company Acquires Business Rights for 4.5 Billion KRW
Unichem Claims "Owner Responsibility Strengthened Considering Sales Risk"

Unichem, a KOSPI-listed company, has transferred a resort project with an expected total sales price of 520 billion KRW to a family company of CEO Jangwon Lee. The business rights and land were transferred for 4.5 billion KRW. Despite the construction still being in its initial stages, the sales rate has exceeded 30%, with contracts worth over 160 billion KRW already signed.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure on the 17th, Unichem established a subsidiary called Unione in June 2020 and formed a corporation named 'Unigolf & Resort.' In September 2020, Unigolf & Resort acquired all business rights, including a golf course and condominium project in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, from Samseung L&D for 18 billion KRW. The plan was to build a 27-hole public golf course, Cascadia CC, and the Mount Nine Resort Condominium through Unigolf & Resort.

Cascadia CC began development immediately after acquiring the business rights and is currently nearing its opening. The Mount Nine Resort started development last year, but the development entity changed from Unigolf & Resort to 'Uni Resort Development.'

Last year, Unigolf & Resort transferred all resort development land and business rights to Uni Resort Development. The transfer price stated in the audit report was 1.469 billion KRW. According to the company, only the land with building permits was accounted for as land payment, and the total transaction price was 4.5 billion KRW.

Uni Resort Development, which purchased the land, signed a construction contract worth approximately 231.3 billion KRW with Shinwon Comprehensive Development in July last year for the new construction of Mount Nine Resort. The contract period extends until April 20, 2025. Construction is still in the early stages.

Uni Resort Development is a family company of Unichem CEO Jangwon Lee. The 100% largest shareholder of Uni Resort Development is 'Uni.' Uni established Uni Resort Development in 2021 by investing 2 billion KRW in capital. Essentially, Uni and Uni Resort Development are one entity. Uni is a family company where CEO Jangwon Lee holds 25%, his wife, actress Park Jumi, holds 25%, and their two children each hold 25%.

Uni is the top company in Unichem's ownership structure. Uni holds 22.38% of Unichem's shares. Unichem has a subsidiary called Unione, with a 60% stake. Unione owns 100% of Unigolf & Resort. The ownership structure is 'CEO Jangwon Lee → Uni → Unichem → Unione → Unigolf & Resort.'

Thus, Unigolf & Resort is under Unichem's control, so Cascadia CC's performance can be consolidated into Unichem's financial statements. However, Uni Resort Development has no equity relationship with Unichem, so resort sales performance is unrelated to Unichem. All resort sales profits go to Uni, CEO Jangwon Lee's family company.

The total expected sales price of the resort project managed by Uni Resort Development is approximately 527.3 billion KRW. Even after deducting construction costs, land payments, and various permits and fees, the project is expected to yield a profit of over 200 billion KRW. As of the end of last year, sales worth 162.6 billion KRW had already been made, achieving a sales rate of 30.8%.

Regarding this, a Unichem official stated, "The major financial institutions lending to Unigolf & Resort judged there was a risk that the resort project might not achieve 100% sales, so a clause was included in the project financing loan agreement prohibiting any business other than the golf course." He added, "Therefore, the CEO responsibly transferred the business rights to Uni Resort Development to lead the project. After deducting the total construction cost of 230 billion KRW, interior costs of 30 billion KRW, commissions paid to sales agencies of 30 billion KRW, and costs for providing Cascadia CC discount coupons to resort members of about 160 billion KRW, the actual profit is estimated to be in the 20 billion KRW range if 100% sales are achieved."