Kim Sang-cheol, Chairman of Hancom, Sells All Shares... Second Generation Management Begins in Earnest

Kim Yeon-su, Executive Vice President of Hancom Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] Hancom Group is expected to fully initiate second-generation management.

Hancom announced on the 24th that Datoz Co., Ltd. acquired a 9.4% stake in Hancom, becoming the second-largest shareholder.

Datoz acquired all 2,329,390 shares of Hancom held by Kim Sang-cheol, chairman of Hancom Group, his wife Kim Jeong-sil, an inside director, and Hancom’s affiliate Capital Express for approximately 50 billion KRW through HCIH, a newly established company by Datoz. Medici Investment, a private equity fund management firm, also participated in HCIH as a PEF.

Datoz and HCIH are led by Kim Yeon-su, the eldest daughter of Chairman Kim and the general vice president of Hancom Group.

Vice President Kim stated, “Unlike the comprehensive asset succession generally taken in inheritance, we purchased all shares by valuing the equity based on Hancom’s future value.”

Through this acquisition of Hancom shares, Datoz plans to directly lead Hancom’s growth strategy, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and initial public offering (IPO) in the future.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kim joined Wijitro in 2006 and has been responsible for Hancom Group’s M&A and growth strategy. Since 2015, she has served as chairman and CEO of the Belgian company iText, growing the company more than threefold. She currently remains a board member of iText.

Vice President Kim has overseen Hancom Group’s overall operations and led strategic partnerships with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Naver Cloud, Kakao, NHN, and others. Through this share acquisition, she plans to more actively support the expansion of Hancom’s cloud business as a major shareholder.

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