Hoban Construction Acquires Shares Held by KCGI, 'Second Largest Shareholder of Hanjin KAL'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] Hoban Construction has moved to acquire shares of Hanjin KAL, the holding company of the Hanjin Group.

On the 28th, Hoban Construction announced that it will acquire 9.4 million shares (13.94%) of Hanjin KAL in cash. The acquisition is for simple investment purposes, and the scheduled acquisition date is April 4.

As of the end of last year, the major shareholders of Hanjin KAL were Chairman Cho Won-tae and related parties (18.87%), KCGI (17.41%), Bando Construction (17.02%), Delta Air Lines (13.21%), and Korea Development Bank (10.58%), among others.

Hoban Construction is known to be purchasing the shares held by KCGI, a private equity fund (PEF) management company and the second-largest shareholder of Hanjin KAL. KCGI, which acquired shares of Hanjin KAL in 2018, has been engaged in a management rights dispute with Cho Won-tae, chairman of the Hanjin Group.

In 2020, KCGI formed a tripartite alliance with Bando Construction and former Korean Air Vice President Cho Hyun-ah, engaging in a management rights dispute with the Hanjin Group owners. Subsequently, in November 2020, Korea Development Bank participated in a paid-in capital increase of Hanjin KAL while supporting Korean Air's acquisition of Asiana Airlines, becoming a major shareholder (10.66%) and supporting Chairman Cho Won-tae's management rights, which caused a rift.

KCGI filed an injunction with the court to prevent Korea Development Bank from issuing new shares of Hanjin KAL, but it was dismissed. In April of last year, the tripartite alliance of Hanjin KAL was also dissolved.

KCGI currently holds 11,620,190 shares of Hanjin KAL (excluding new share subscription rights) through eight special purpose companies (SPCs). As the maturity of KCGI's existing funds approaches sequentially, it has decided to sell its shares.

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