Call Option Exercised with Korea Zinc After Four Years
Hanjin KAL Increases Stake to 60.49%
Hanjin KAL, the holding company of Hanjin Group, has fully recovered its stake in Jungseok Enterprise, which it sold to Korea Zinc four years ago. As a result, Hanjin KAL's ownership in Jungseok Enterprise has risen to 60.49% (744,789 shares).
According to industry sources on May 16, Hanjin KAL announced that its board of directors had approved the purchase of Jungseok Enterprise shares the previous day. The company disclosed that it would acquire 150,469 unlisted shares (12.22%) of Jungseok Enterprise from general shareholders for 52.062 billion won. Korea Zinc is the only general shareholder of Jungseok Enterprise.
Jungseok Enterprise is a company named after the pen name of Hanjin Group's founder, Cho Choonghoon. It is currently engaged in real estate management and leasing, including the main building of Hanjin Building in Sogong-dong, Seoul.
Originally, 100% of Jungseok Enterprise shares were owned by the Hanjin Group owner family. However, in March 2021, Cho Won-tae, Chairman of Hanjin KAL, his mother Lee Myung-hee, Advisor to Jungseok Enterprise, and his sister Cho Emily Lee (Cho Hyunmin), President of Hanjin, sold 150,469 shares of Jungseok Enterprise to Jaguar No.1 Limited Company. The sale price was 48.15 billion won.
The reason for the sale was reportedly to raise approximately 270 billion won in inheritance tax following the passing of the late Cho Yangho, former Chairman of Hanjin Group. The inheritance tax was fully paid in October last year.
This latest transaction was carried out as Hanjin KAL exercised a call option with Korea Zinc. Jaguar No.1 Limited Company was established in 2021 with 100% investment from Korea Zinc. In December 2023, this company sold all its shares in Jungseok Enterprise to Korea Zinc.
Meanwhile, Hanjin KAL has recently taken defensive measures after the possibility of a management dispute was raised due to Hoban Construction's increased stake. Hanjin KAL contributed its treasury shares to the company's welfare fund, thereby raising Chairman Cho Won-tae's stake from 19.96% to 20.13%. The gap between Hanjin KAL and Hoban Group has widened from the previous 1.67 percentage points to 2.2 percentage points.
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