Park Chang-gu's 'Nephew's Revolt' Counterattack... Shareholders Move to Secure Proxy Votes

Triple Dividend Increase and Entry into Battery Materials Business
Vision to Achieve 9 Trillion KRW in Sales by 2025
Winning Support from Institutional and Small Shareholders

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Kumho Petrochemical, which had been passive in responding to the management rights dispute initiated by nephew Executive Director Park Cheol-wan against his uncle Chairman Park Chan-gu, has stepped up its counterattack and is now actively addressing the situation. Along with a high-dividend policy, the company unveiled a vision to achieve sales of 9 trillion KRW by 2025 through entry into the battery materials business, and has begun actively courting institutional and small shareholders.

Kumho Petrochemical announced on the 10th that it will accept proxy voting applications from its shareholders from the 12th to the 25th. Prior to this, Kumho Petrochemical held a board meeting the previous day where it put forward agenda items including △dividend expansion △partial amendment of the articles of incorporation (separating the election of CEO and chairman of the board) △appointment of directors, as well as all shareholder proposals submitted by Executive Director Park Cheol-wan. However, the dividend proposal from Park’s shareholder proposals was excluded.

The new vision presented by Chairman Park focuses on expanding sales through entry into the mobility sector. The strategy is to invest 3 to 4 trillion KRW in the core business and battery materials business to expand sales to 9 trillion KRW by 2025. Investments will be made in anode materials and solid-state related materials, which are related to existing businesses, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are being considered in bio, semiconductor materials, and eco-friendly businesses, which have an industrial growth rate exceeding at least 7 to 8% annually. It is explained that the new business will secure an additional 1.7 trillion KRW in sales.

Similar to Executive Director Park, shareholder-friendly measures were also proposed. Kumho Petrochemical set dividends at 4,200 KRW per common share and 4,250 KRW per preferred share, which is lower than Park’s proposal, while major shareholders including Chairman Park lowered the dividend amount to 4,000 KRW per share.

The proxy contest is expected to be conducted targeting individual shareholders. Foreign investors, who hold 27.74% of shares, are mostly institutions and exercise their voting rights directly.

Kumho Petrochemical stated, "To optimize board operations for institutionalizing ESG (environment, social, and governance) management, we have reorganized related articles of incorporation and selected director candidates considering expertise and diversity by sector," adding, "We will do our utmost to secure proxies so that board proposals that align with the interests of the company and all shareholders can be passed."

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