[Exclusive] Gu Bon-geol, LF Chairman, Steps Down as CEO After 14 Years

CEO and Chairman of the Board Held Concurrently
Focus on Discovering Future Growth Businesses

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] Koo Bon-geol, Chairman of LF (photo), stepped down as CEO after 14 years and 4 months on the 26th.

According to the business community on that day, at the morning board meeting, Chairman and CEO Koo Bon-geol decided to relinquish his CEO position while retaining the role of board chairman. Chairman Koo will focus on exploring the group’s development plans from a macro perspective. LF plans to concentrate on discovering new businesses necessary for future growth at the company-wide level.

Koo has served as CEO and concurrently as board chairman since November 2006. The decision to step down as CEO this time is aimed at separating the board and management to strengthen the board’s independence. If the board chairman, who monitors and controls management, also serves as CEO, it may hinder the board’s independent decision-making.

Koo is the eldest son of Koo Ja-seung, former LG Sangsa president and the second son of the late founder Koo In-hoe. LF was established when Koo separated LG Sangsa’s fashion division from the LG Group in 2007. Koo was recognized for his management skills by increasing sales from 738 billion KRW in 2007 to 1.48 trillion KRW in seven years. Judging that further growth was difficult with fashion business alone, he changed the company name from LG Fashion to LF in 2014, intending to transform the corporate DNA into a comprehensive lifestyle culture company.

Koo diversified the business through mergers and acquisitions. He focused intensively on the food business. In 2015, LF Foods acquired shares in the bakery cafe Publik, and in 2017 alone, conducted four M&As including Indulge, Monolink, Gourmet F&B Korea, and Kraze Burger. By securing over 50% of shares in Indulge, which imports and sells sparkling wine and craft beer, LF also entered the alcoholic beverage market. The company also ventured into broadcasting, starting with lifestyle cable channel Dong-A TV in 2015 and acquiring leisure cable channel Polaris TV in 2017. It also secured shares in Anuri, which operates educational content business.

In 2018, LF laid the foundation to transform into a lifestyle culture company covering food, clothing, and housing by acquiring Koramco Asset Trust, the third-largest real estate trust company in Korea. The number of affiliates increased from just one, LF Foods, to 44 currently. Last year, sales reached 1.65 trillion KRW, with operating profit of 77 billion KRW.

A business community official said, "Chairman Koo Bon-geol is expected to focus on discovering future growth engines and drawing the group’s big picture," adding, "Although uncertainty has increased, he is likely to turn the crisis into an opportunity and invest aggressively."

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