Hanp "Subsidiary Dissolved to Secure Jeju CC Bonds... Former Executive Sued for Breach of Trust and Market Manipulation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Hanp announced on the 6th that it has liquidated its subsidiary Hanp E&C to secure bonds for Jeju CC. It also filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office against Park Chang-woo, General Manager of the Power Generation Business Division, on charges of breach of trust and market manipulation.

A Hanp official stated, "The reason Hanp E&C entered the liquidation process is to confirm the bonds loaned by Hanp and recover all bonds during the corporate rehabilitation process," adding, "Hanp holds 35 billion KRW in bonds from Hanp E&C."

The official explained, "Once it becomes a liquidated corporation, when disposing of the Jeju CC it holds, Hanp can receive all bonds regardless of its shareholding ratio," and added, "This is a countermeasure against creditors like Primus Ivy demanding senior pledge rights ahead of other creditors. Corporate rehabilitation was chosen to ensure that all of Hanp's creditors receive debt repayment fairly."

Additionally, Hanp filed a complaint on the same day with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office against Park Chang-woo, General Manager of the Energy Business Division, on charges of breach of trust and market manipulation. A company official said, "Since early last year, Park Chang-woo, through an acquaintance and the acquaintance's clients, has purchased large amounts of Hanp's stock and the stock of Bloom Energy, a U.S. main equipment supplier for the fuel cell power generation business," and continued, "Due to the stock prices of the two companies, a negative report related to Bloom Energy was released by Hindenburg Research in September last year, and despite knowing that the decline of REC, the main revenue source, could cause losses in the Jincheon fuel cell power generation business, he concealed this." The official added, "Changing the main equipment supplier was not even considered, and despite potential losses, they only intended to proceed with construction."

According to the complaint, Hanp planned to contribute a factory as an in-kind investment in the Jincheon Green Energy Power Plant Construction Project and secure a 50% stake in the power generation business operator. However, Korea Western Power did not recognize the factory in-kind investment and demanded reducing Hanp's shareholding to below 50% while increasing Korea Western Power's shareholding to over 50%.

Hanp claims that Park Chang-woo gave up securing the 50% stake and hastened construction despite the loss-making business structure to sell his and his acquaintance's shares at a high price. The official expressed concern, saying, "Park Chang-woo has not disclosed these facts due to his and his acquaintance's holdings in Hanp and Bloom Energy stocks, and he is currently spreading the claim that the management decided not to proceed with the power generation business to shift responsibility for delays in the fuel cell power generation business onto the management."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.