Im Jong-yoon and Jong-hoon Brothers Join Hanmi Pharm Board
No One Appears On Site
Elder Brother Manages Operating Company, Younger Brother Oversees Holding Company
'New Hanmi' Initiative Underway... Inheritance Tax Resolution Remains Key Challenge
The management dispute among the Hanmi Pharm Group owner family, which lasted for six months since the beginning of this year, has ended with a complete victory for brothers Lim Jong-yoon and Lim Jong-hoon.
Park Jae-hyun, CEO of Hanmi Pharm (Chairman of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders), is conducting the Hanmi Pharm Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders held on the morning of the 18th at Hanmi Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Lee Chun-hee]
On the 18th, Hanmi Pharm held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders at Hanmi Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and approved the appointment of inside directors Lim Jong-yoon (director of Hanmi Science) and Lim Jong-hoon (CEO of Hanmi Science), non-executive director Shin Dong-guk (CEO of Hanyang Precision), and outside director Nam Byung-ho (CEO of Herings). Although the National Pension Service, which holds 9.95% of Hanmi Pharm’s shares, opposed the appointment of all except CEO Lim Jong-hoon, the appointment proposals passed smoothly as the largest shareholder, the holding company Hanmi Science, held 41.4% of shares as of the end of last year, and the new director held 9.1% (combined with Hanyang Precision), giving the brothers’ side a majority of friendly shares.
The Hanmi Pharm board can have up to 10 members, and all four vacant seats available for additional appointments beyond the six existing directors, including CEO Park Jae-hyun, were filled with figures from the brothers’ side. However, except for CEO Park, who served as chairman, neither the existing directors nor the new director candidates appeared at the shareholders’ meeting. CEO Lim Jong-hoon was spotted arriving at the office building at 7:37 a.m. but did not attend the meeting. CEO Park said, “Hanmi Pharm will focus all its capabilities on creating innovative achievements for a pharmaceutical powerhouse,” and added, “I believe the newly appointed board members today will play a significant role in setting Hanmi’s direction.”
Lim Jong-hoon, CEO of Hanmi Science, is arriving at Hanmi Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 18th. [Photo by Lee Chun-hee]
Thus, the management dispute that arose when Song Young-sook and Lim Joo-hyun, mother and daughter who controlled the group’s management at the time, announced a merger with OCI Group to resolve inheritance tax issues in January has been settled after about half a year. The brothers had previously revealed a plan for responsible management, with director Lim Jong-yoon taking charge as CEO of the operating company Hanmi Pharm, and CEO Lim Jong-hoon leading the holding company Hanmi Science. However, the board meeting to appoint Lim Jong-yoon as CEO of Hanmi Pharm will not be held on this day. CEO Park said, “There is no board meeting scheduled today,” and added, “We will coordinate and hold it at a later date.” The postponement of the board meeting is known to have been requested by CEO Park.
The brothers are expected to accelerate the formation of a new 'New Hanmi' management system. They presented a 'Korean-style Lonza' as the next-generation growth model for Hanmi Pharm Group and expressed their intention to actively engage in contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business. Through this, they also set a goal of “attracting 1 trillion won in investment and achieving 1 trillion won in net profit.”
However, the unresolved inheritance tax issue remains a potential landmine that could destabilize management at any time. The Hanmi Pharm owner family has yet to resolve about half of the approximately 500 billion won inheritance tax imposed after the death of the late Chairman Lim Sung-ki. It is understood that the stock-backed loans taken to solve the immediate cash shortage exceed 500 billion won. However, following the announcement on the 30th of last month that all family members agreed to “work together to resolve the inheritance tax issue,” and with the establishment of the brothers’ management system, it is expected that both the brothers and the mother and daughter will now focus on raising funds to pay the inheritance tax.
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