Leap to a Comprehensive Materials Company through Acquisition of Starch and Sugar Business
Sajo Group has abruptly signed a contract to acquire ‘Ingredion Korea,’ a high value-added material specialized company including starch and starch syrup.
According to Sajo Group on the 13th, on the 10th, Sajo Group signed a contract to acquire 100% of the shares of Ingredion Korea, the Korean subsidiary, at the Ingredion headquarters in Chicago, USA.
Ingredion Korea is the Korean branch of Ingredion, a global company established in 1906 in New Jersey, USA, providing innovative food ingredient solutions to 120 countries. Its greatest strength lies in developing and possessing differentiated functional materials that enhance the value of products by using natural raw materials such as corn and potatoes to produce starch and sugars.
Ingredion Korea started from Dongyang Food, which established the first starch factory in Korea in 1979, and has led the domestic starch syrup business. In 1999, it was acquired by Doosan and became Doosan ConProducts Korea, a joint venture with a 50-50 share between Doosan and the US company ConProducts (now Ingredion). In 2005, Doosan sold all its shares to ConProducts, making it a US company, but with this acquisition contract by Sajo Group, Ingredion Korea will again be operated with 100% domestic capital.
Sajo Group expressed its ambition to use this acquisition contract as a stepping stone to leap into the global market. The group plans to spare no effort in development and investment to strengthen competitiveness so that the entire food sector of the group, led by Sajodaerim, can lead the global market.
Joo Ji-hong, Vice Chairman of Sajo Group, said, “Based on the acquisition contract of Ingredion’s Korean subsidiary, a global material solution company, we will strengthen the material sector of existing food businesses such as cooking oil, sauces, and flour,” adding, “We plan to focus on expanding and developing high value-added products such as functional foods and food tech.” He continued, “We expect that this will strengthen global competitiveness and at the same time enable the group to achieve a scale exceeding 5 trillion won in sales.”
Vice Chairman Joo’s push to acquire Ingredion Korea is interpreted as an aggressive management move following the acquisition of Dong-A One and the merger of Sajo Haepyo and Sajodaerim. In 2016, Joo actively led the acquisition of Dong-A One, one of the big three domestic flour milling companies, and succeeded in normalizing Dong-A One’s financial crisis during its corporate improvement process.
The 2019 merger of Sajo Haepyo and Sajodaerim was also led by Vice Chairman Joo, and since then, Sajo Group explained that he has successfully led the management efficiency and structural improvement of Sajodaerim. After the merger, Sajodaerim has continued strong performance, achieving sales of 2 trillion won and operating profit of 100 billion won.
Vice Chairman Joo graduated from Yonsei University and Illinois graduate school, worked at consulting firm BearingPoint, then completed an MBA at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, before joining Sajo Group. He expanded his management scope by serving as Planning Director and Head of Management Support at Sajo Haepyo. Since 2015, he has been leading the entire food division as Head of Food Division at Sajo Group.
Meanwhile, Sajo Group has expanded its business by acquiring Haepyo from the Sindongbang group in 2004, followed by Daerim Fisheries, Oyang Fisheries, and then successively acquiring Sama Venture, Nambu Ham, livestock company Fine Korea (now Sajowon), and Dong-A One (now Sajodong-A One).
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
