Court Dismisses All Injunction Requests from Three-Party Alliance... Share Gap Widens

Did Cho Won-tae Secure Victory...? Shareholding Gap Widens from 5%p to 9%p
"Regardless of Outcome, a Long-Term Battle Expected" 전망도

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] With the regular shareholders' meeting that will determine the fate of Hanjin Group just three days away, the court has dismissed all injunction requests filed by the shareholder coalition (the "3-party alliance") seeking to exercise voting rights in Hanjin KAL for the group's normalization. Inside and outside the business community, there is a growing consensus that the 3-party alliance will find it difficult to seize management control at this shareholders' meeting.

According to industry sources on the 24th, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the 3-party alliance's injunction requests regarding ▲allowing voting rights for shares held by Bando Construction (8.20%) and ▲prohibiting voting rights for shares held by Korean Air's self-insurance and employee association (3.7%).

Earlier, on the 3rd, the 3-party alliance filed an injunction request with the court to allow voting rights for 4,852,000 shares (8.20%, based on the shareholder registry closure date) held by Bando Construction through its three subsidiaries. At the time of acquiring the shares, Bando Construction had disclosed its investment purpose as a "simple investment," but later changed it to "management participation" upon forming the 3-party alliance.

Subsequently, on the 12th, the alliance filed another injunction request to restrict voting rights on shares held by Korean Air's self-insurance and employee association, arguing that "these shares fall under special relations influenced by the controlling shareholder but were not properly reported."

Industry insiders view this dismissal as placing Chairman Cho in a favorable position for the shareholders' meeting on the 27th. Specifically, for the shares held by Bando Construction (8.20%), those holding more than 5% of shares are required to report their holding purpose to the Financial Services Commission and the stock exchange under the "Large Shareholding Reporting Obligation." Failure to comply could lead to restrictions on voting rights for the remaining 3.20% of shares.

As a result, the 3-party alliance's shareholding ratio will decrease from the previous 31.98% (KCGI 17.29%, Bando Construction 8.20%, former Korean Air Vice President Cho Hyun-ah 6.52%) to 28.78%.

On the other hand, with the injunction to prohibit voting rights for Korean Air's self-insurance and employee association shares dismissed, Chairman Cho's side's shareholding ratio has stabilized in the 37% range. Specifically, this includes Chairman Cho (6.52%), Executive Director Cho Hyun-min of Hanjin KAL (6.47%), Advisor Lee Myung-hee of Jungseok Enterprise (6.52%), Delta Air Lines (10.00%), Kakao (1.00%), Korean Air's self-insurance and employee association (3.7%), and GS Caltex (0.25%).

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