Hanyang Securities to Be Acquired by KCGI After Passing Major Shareholder Review

Private equity fund manager KCGI has finalized its acquisition of Hanyang Securities after passing the financial authorities' review for a change in major shareholder.

The Financial Services Commission announced on June 11 that it had held a regular meeting and approved the agenda regarding this change in major shareholder.

With the decision by the Financial Services Commission, KCGI has completed the final legal procedures related to the acquisition of Hanyang Securities. KCGI is set to become the owner of Hanyang Securities by paying the purchase price for the shares.

In September last year, KCGI signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) with Hanyang Academy. The main terms were the acquisition of a 29.59% stake in Hanyang Securities (3,766,973 shares) at 58,500 won per share, totaling 220.4 billion won. In January this year, KCGI applied to the Financial Services Commission for approval of the change in major shareholder.

Although KCGI applied for approval of the change, it took five months to receive the result. In principle, the review of a change in major shareholder should be completed within 60 days from the application date. However, the review was temporarily suspended while KCGI was undergoing a tax audit by the Seoul Regional Tax Office. In addition, the participation of OK Savings Bank as a financial investor (FI) in the Hanyang Securities acquisition fund also had an impact. This was because of concerns that KCGI might resell Hanyang Securities to OK Financial Group.

KCGI is a private equity fund manager founded in 2018 by well-known analyst Kang Sungboo, who also serves as CEO.