[Market Focus] Hanjin KAL Rises Over 5% on News of Additional Stake Acquisition by Hoban Construction

Hanjin KAL shares rose by over 5% in early trading on March 19. The increase is believed to be driven by investor sentiment following the news that Hoban Construction has further increased its stake in the company.

As of 9:17 a.m. on this day at the Korea Exchange, Hanjin KAL was trading at 129,300 won, up 5.90% from the previous session.

According to Hanjin KAL’s annual business report for last year, which was disclosed the previous day, Hoban Construction held an 18.78% stake in the company as of the end of last year, maintaining its position as the second-largest shareholder. Previously, Hoban Construction became the second-largest shareholder in 2022 by securing a 17.43% stake in Hanjin KAL.

Compared to the previously disclosed figure of 18.46% in May of last year, Hoban Construction’s stake increased by 0.32 percentage points. The gap in shareholding between Walter Cho, Chairman of Hanjin Group and the largest shareholder, and Hoban Construction narrowed from 2.23 percentage points at the end of 2022 to 1.78 percentage points at the end of last year.

While Hoban Construction has stated that its acquisition of Hanjin KAL shares is for investment purposes only, some in the industry interpret it as a strategic move to participate in management in the future.

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