Goo Bon-seong, Former Vice Chairman of Ourhome, Demands Extraordinary General Meeting... "Management Dispute Rekindled"

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] The management rights dispute appears to be reigniting as former Ourhome Vice Chairman Koo Bon-seong, who stepped down last year after losing a management rights battle with his younger sisters, has requested the convening of an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders.

Koo’s side stated in a press release on the 25th, "We requested the convening of an extraordinary general meeting as a means to bring about a reasonable sales process, as we could not obtain the company's cooperation regarding the joint sale of shares held together with shareholder Koo Mi-hyun."

Koo had agreed to jointly sell 58.62% of Ourhome shares with his sister Mi-hyun and had been pushing forward the sale through the advisory firm La Defense Partners. They requested cooperation for due diligence to assess the corporate value, but the company remained unresponsive, making it inevitable to convene a shareholders’ meeting to form a neutral management team, according to Koo’s side.

The list of newly appointed board members includes both Koo and Mi-yeon. Koo’s side said, "This is to facilitate the smooth progress of the share sale process, and they will remain on the board until the sale is completed," adding, "It is not for the purpose of returning to management."

In response, Ourhome stated, "We did not refuse to cooperate with due diligence requests, but the sale advisory firm must prove that it has been authorized by the two shareholders to negotiate. We requested contract details and basic supporting documents, but they have not been submitted."

Ourhome is a company where the founder, former Chairman Koo Ja-hak’s one son and three daughters hold more than 98% of the total shares. Koo holds 38.6%, while the three sisters Mi-hyun, Myung-jin, and Ji-eun collectively hold 59.6%.

Koo was dismissed last June after losing the management rights dispute with his three younger sisters. At that time, Mi-hyun sided with current Vice Chairman Koo Ji-eun, but this time he has moved to jointly sell shares with his older brother, former Vice Chairman Kwon.

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