Kim Ho-yeon Sells All Hanwha Shares
Hanwha’s Corporate Value Soars as a Trump Beneficiary
Shares Also Sold at Hanwha’s Peak in 2007
Kim Ho-yeon, chairman of Binggrae, has drawn attention as he sold all his shares in Hanwha. Since he had previously sold some shares during Hanwha's stock price rise, analysts suggest that Chairman Kim has once again realized profits this time. Some also interpret this as a move to organize shares amid the third-generation succession process of the Hanwha Group.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 18th, Chairman Kim Ho-yeon sold all 124,567 common shares (0.16%) of Hanwha through off-hours trading on the 13th. The selling price per share was 39,200 KRW, totaling 4.88302 billion KRW.
This is the first time Chairman Kim has traded Hanwha shares in 18 years since 2007. In 2007, Hanwha's corporate value peaked. On October 31, 2007, Hanwha recorded its all-time high of 92,219 KRW. At that time, Chairman Kim sold a total of 1,750 shares in three transactions: ▲750 shares (November 5) ▲200 shares (November 7) ▲800 shares (December 10). After increasing his shares to 119,167 through a paid-in capital increase in 1999 and receiving 7,150 shares as dividends in 2000, his holdings rose to 126,317 shares, marking a change after about seven years.
Industry insiders believe that Hanwha's rising stock price was a decisive factor in Chairman Kim's decision to sell this time as well. Hanwha, with defense and shipbuilding as its core affiliates?industries benefiting from former U.S. President Donald Trump's policies?has seen its stock price steadily rise this year. While Hanwha usually traded between 100,000 and 200,000 shares, it recently attracted attention by trading up to 3.56 million shares. Hanwha's stock price, which was 27,050 KRW on January 2, is trading at 45,000 KRW as of 10 a.m. on the 18th.
Some also analyze that the share sale was part of the Hanwha Group's succession process. Han Seung-yeon, chairman of Hanwha Group, is working on succession with his three sons, and it is speculated that Chairman Kim Ho-yeon, his brother, has severed ties with Hanwha Group through this share sale.
However, considering that the two brothers have had a strained relationship due to inheritance conflicts, this analysis is seen as less convincing.
The brothers experienced a management dispute when their father, the late Kim Jong-hee, founder of Hanwha Group, suddenly passed away in 1981, leading Han Seung-yeon to become the group head at the age of 29. Their father’s sudden death in his late 50s left no clear will regarding the division of shares, prompting Kim Ho-yeon to file a lawsuit in 1992 against his older brother Kim Seung-yeon to reclaim inherited property, resulting in years of legal battles during the group’s division process.
At that time, Kim Ho-yeon claimed 40% of the inheritance, arguing that Kim Seung-yeon disposed of the inherited property arbitrarily without consulting him. The two brothers, who went to court, reconciled only at their late mother, the late Kang Tae-young’s 70th birthday party in 1995. In November of that year, Kim Ho-yeon withdrew the lawsuit, ending the legal conflict that had lasted for three and a half years. However, it is reported that the brothers remained distant afterward.
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