Acquisition price set at 48,469 won...Shareholding expanded to 15.64 million shares
Off-market acquisition of stakes held by six parties including Cori Pohang
Shin Dongguk, Chairman of Hanyang Precision and the largest shareholder of Hanmi Science, the holding company of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, is set to further expand his stake by acquiring additional shares.
On February 24, Hanmi Science announced in a regulatory filing that, under a stock purchase agreement signed by Chairman Shin on February 13, he is scheduled to acquire 4,410,032 voting shares from six parties including Cori Pohang through an over-the-counter transaction. The acquisition price is 48,469 won per share.
Once this transaction is completed, Chairman Shin's shareholding will increase from 11,239,739 shares to 15,649,771 shares. Accordingly, his ownership stake is also expected to rise significantly.
Cori Pohang, specified as the seller, is a 100% subsidiary of Cori Group, which is led by Lim Jongyoon, Co-CEO of Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical. The market is paying attention to the possibility that the stake previously held by Lim's side was transferred to Cori Pohang and, after going through a financial transaction structure, ultimately led to this sale.
According to industry sources, Cori Pohang previously provided its Hanmi Science shares as collateral to a special purpose company (SPC) established by a private equity fund to raise capital. The contract period was reportedly about four years. For this reason, some interpret the latest transaction as part of a restructuring process of the collateralized shares.
Chairman Shin has steadily accumulated a stake in Hanmi Science, a move that began through his connection with the late Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group founder Lim Sungki. After the founder passed away in 2020, he also emerged as a key variable in the ownership family's management control dispute, which was triggered by the burden of inheritance tax.
Since then, Chairman Shin, together with some members of the owner family, has formed an alliance structure by signing a shareholder agreement with a private equity fund manager. With debates over his involvement in management continuing recently, some observers view his additional share purchases as an attempt to strengthen his control.
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