The Return of Basketball Season... 'Sono' Brand Engraved Dribble

First Project After Chairman Seo Jun-hyuk's Inauguration
Focusing on Enhancing Sono's Corporate Value

Son Jun-hyuk, chairman of Sono International, has launched his first business venture since taking office. This is the professional basketball team operation business, which was announced in August. With the opening of the professional basketball season, Sono is expected to focus on brand promotion and enhancing corporate value through the basketball team.

Seo Jun-hyuk, Chairman of Sono International.
Photo by Asia Economy DB

According to industry sources on the 25th, the '2023-2024 Jeonggwanjang KBL Regular League,' in which the Daemyung Sono Group's professional basketball team Sono Skygunners participates, opened on the 21st and has embarked on a five-month-long journey. Sono acquired Day One, which was expelled last season due to wage arrears and other controversies, and after receiving approval from the Korean Basketball League in August, debuted this season under the name Skygunners.

The reason Sono entered professional basketball is believed to be the judgment that it would help promote the corporate brand. Daemyung Sono Group changed its brand name, which was familiar as Daemyung, to 'Sono,' meaning utopia in Italian, in 2019. By operating a professional basketball team, they aim to erase the existing 'Daemyung' brand and newly establish the 'Sono' brand among consumers.

Operating a professional basketball team is also the first business field that Son Jun-hyuk, chairman of Sono International, has entered after completing the succession of management. Son, the second generation of Daemyung Sono Group, officially took office as chairman of Sono International, the group's holding company, in January this year. Since his inauguration, he has continued efforts focused on enhancing corporate value.

For example, Chairman Son spun off the construction division, which was merged in 2021, into Daemyung Construction in February, shortly after taking office. It is interpreted that he judged the construction division, which had turned to a deficit after the merger and continuously increased operating losses, would not help enhance corporate value. In fact, the construction division (Daemyung Construction) recorded a net profit of 5.7 billion KRW in 2020 before the merger, but from 2021, it recorded large losses and fell into the red. In 2021, it recorded a net loss of 35.7 billion KRW and in 2022, -25.8 billion KRW.

Some in the industry predict that Daemyung Sono Group will reattempt an initial public offering (IPO) in the future through brand promotion and corporate value enhancement via operating the professional basketball team. In 2019, Daemyung Sono Group selected Mirae Asset Securities as the lead underwriter for the IPO of Daemyung Sono, the holding company at the time. However, the plan was temporarily suspended due to business downturns after COVID-19. A Sono International official said, "There are currently no plans to reattempt the IPO," withholding further comments.

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