Lee Woo-hyun Resigns as CEO... Retains Chairman Position
Decides to Burn All Treasury Shares... Worth 50 Billion KRW
Bukwang Pharmaceutical announced on the 22nd that it held a board meeting and appointed Woo Gi-seok and Lee Je-young as co-CEOs. Both individuals were newly appointed as inside directors at Bukwang Pharmaceutical’s regular shareholders' meeting held earlier that morning. With one executive from Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group and another from OCI Group stepping up as co-CEOs, the integration between the two groups appears to be accelerating.
Newly appointed CEO Woo Gi-seok previously served as head of the pharmacy business division at Hanmi Pharmaceutical and led Online Pharm, a distribution-specialized subsidiary of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, significantly contributing to its growth. Bukwang Pharmaceutical expects that CEO Woo’s expertise and capabilities in the pharmaceutical industry will greatly help improve Bukwang Pharmaceutical’s performance and profitability.
Newly appointed CEO Lee Je-young is a strategist who served as Executive Director of the Strategic Planning Office at OCI Holdings. As Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), he contributed to OCI Holdings’ transition into a holding company by establishing and executing business strategies to enhance corporate value. Bukwang Pharmaceutical explained that CEO Lee’s strategic execution skills will play a major role in improving the company’s organizational structure.
However, a Bukwang Pharmaceutical official stated, "Specific details regarding which areas each co-CEO will primarily oversee have not been decided." Given the differing backgrounds of CEOs Woo and Lee, it is reported that Woo will likely handle pharmaceutical distribution, Lee will oversee overall management, and responsibilities for research and development (R&D) and production will be determined later.
OCI Group Chairman Lee Woo-hyun, who was initially expected to co-lead Bukwang Pharmaceutical’s management as an inside director alongside CEO Woo, resigned from his position as inside director. However, he will continue to serve as chairman of Bukwang Pharmaceutical as an unregistered executive and plans to support global new drug development efforts such as Contera Pharma.
Chairman Lee said, "The new CEOs are experts with outstanding capabilities in their respective fields, and I expect them to fully demonstrate their abilities for Bukwang Pharmaceutical’s sound growth." He added, "OCI Group will continue to provide unwavering support for Bukwang Pharmaceutical’s growth."
Meanwhile, at the board meeting held on the same day, Bukwang Pharmaceutical also decided to cancel all 2,608,378 treasury shares it holds. The acquisition cost is approximately 50 billion KRW, accounting for 3.67% of the total issued shares.
The company explained that this decision follows Chairman Lee’s statement at the previous shareholders' meeting: "Bukwang Pharmaceutical is securing financial soundness through continuous and intensive management improvements," and "We will do our best to respond to shareholders’ criticisms due to recent stock price declines and deteriorating performance by turning a profit this year and enhancing shareholder value.”
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