Lim Jong-yoon, Chairman of the Korea Bio Association, is being interviewed by Asia Economy. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@
On the 18th, Lim Jong-yoon, president of Hanmi Pharm, criticized La D?fense Partners, saying, "They are causing family conflicts among the mother and daughter and the eldest son regarding Hanmi Pharm's management rights while quietly reaping profits."
According to industry sources, ahead of the Hanmi-OCI merger, OCI Holdings plans to appoint Chairman Lee Woo-hyun, Hanmi Pharm President Lim Joo-hyun, and La D?fense Partners CEO Kim Nam-gyu as inside directors on the 29th. La D?fense is a private equity fund (PEF) management company entering its fourth year this year.
La D?fense, which established ties with the Hanmi family to resolve inheritance tax issues of the Hanmi Pharm owner family, has been advising on the overall management of the Hanmi Pharm Group since the late Lim Seong-gi, the former chairman of Hanmi Pharm, passed away.
Initially, La D?fense attempted to acquire about 11.8% of Hanmi Science shares to resolve the owner family’s inheritance tax issues, but after the plan failed, it is known to have proposed a merger with the OCI Group. Lim’s side claims that excluding the eldest son’s opinion during this process escalated the conflict.
Lim Jong-yoon’s side asserted, "Since La D?fense intervened in Hanmi Science’s management, the management rights dispute has intensified."
Lim explained, "After the late Chairman Lim Seong-gi passed away, in August 2020, Chairman Song Young-sook became CEO, and I, as a co-CEO, was excluded without an organizational chart. Especially, after being notified in March 2022 that I could not be reappointed, the position was filled by an outside director recommended by La D?fense."
Lim added, "La D?fense, which led the Hanmi-OCI merger excluding the eldest son, achieved the outcome of having CEO Lim Joo-hyun of Hanmi Pharm and CEO Kim Nam-gyu participate as inside directors of OCI Holdings after the OCI Holdings shareholders’ meeting on the 29th, thereby engaging in OCI’s overall management. Additionally, they separately pocket an advisory fee estimated at around 10 billion KRW."
He also noted that this is not the first case where La D?fense caused disputes to secure profits.
According to Lim’s side, La D?fense was in charge of the share sale of Ourhome, which experienced a sibling management dispute in 2022, but failed to produce results and only collected fees. At that time, La D?fense attempted to sell shares of former Ourhome Vice Chairman Koo Bon-sung, the largest shareholder, but ultimately achieved no results.
It is pointed out that when CEO Kim Nam-gyu was part of KCGI (Kang Sung-bu Fund), during the sibling dispute at Hanjin Kal, they publicly advocated for "governance improvement," but KCGI only doubled its returns from the Hanjin Kal investment and failed to produce significant improvements in Hanjin Kal’s governance.
Lim Jong-yoon’s side emphasized, "Since La D?fense began management consulting for Chairman Song, more than 20 PhD-level executives from major Hanmi Pharm Group companies have left the company. The important decision to transfer management rights to a non-pharmaceutical bio-specialized company was passed with only four resolutions from the Hanmi Science board, which is a decision made solely based on the needs of La D?fense and Chairman Song, without considering the future of Korea’s pharmaceutical industry."
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