Hoban Construction Secures 18.78% Stake in Hanjin KAL... Chairman Cho Won-tae Holds 20.56%

Hoban Construction has increased its stake in Hanjin KAL, the holding company of Hanjin Group, which owns Korean Air, to 18.78%.

According to Hanjin KAL's annual business report released on March 18, as of the end of last year, Hoban Construction's stake in Hanjin KAL stood at 18.78%. This represents an increase of 0.32 percentage points compared to May of the previous year (18.46%) and an increase of 0.88 percentage points compared to the end of 2024 (17.9%).

During the same period, the stake held by Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae, the largest shareholder of Hanjin KAL, rose by 0.43 percentage points to 20.56%. As a result, the gap between the second-largest shareholder, Hoban Construction, and Chairman Cho narrowed from 2.23 percentage points at the end of 2024 to 1.78 percentage points as of the end of last year.

However, if the stakes of Delta Air Lines (14.90%) and Korea Development Bank (10.58%), which are considered friendly to Chairman Cho, are combined, the total comes to 46.04%. This still maintains a 27.26 percentage point gap with Hoban Construction.

Previously, Hoban Construction became the second-largest shareholder in 2022 by acquiring shares from private equity fund KCGI, which had previously been involved in a management dispute with Hanjin KAL. In 2023, Hoban Construction further expanded its influence by additionally purchasing 5.85% of Hanjin KAL shares held by Pan Ocean.

Hoban Construction has stated that it acquired the Hanjin KAL shares purely for investment purposes. However, some in the industry view this move as a strategic step towards future participation in management rights.

Meanwhile, as of the end of last year, the National Pension Service newly joined the list of major shareholders by securing a 5.44% stake in Hanjin KAL.

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