Court upholds Hamni-OCI merger

[YONHAP]

The Suwon District Court upheld the integration plan of Hamni Pharmaceutical (Hanmi Pharm) and OCI Holdings, mitigating legal uncertainties around the impending merger.

The court rejected an injunction request filed by Lim Jong-yoon and Lim Jong-hoon, sons of late Hamni Pharm founder Lim Sung-ki, that aimed to prevent the group's holding company, Hanmi Science, from issuing new shares.

The Lim brothers' filing was viewed as part of an ongoing effort to block the integration of Hamni Pharm and OCI after the two firms announced in January that they would push for a merger by issuing and reciprocally acquiring new shares.

Hanmi Pharm is currently headed by Song Young-sook, the wife of the late founder, who supports the merger plan.

The fate of the Hanmi-OCI merger will be determined by vote at the general shareholders' meeting on Thursday.

Market watchers say it is difficult to predict the result as the pro-merger group, led by Song, holds only 35.33 percent of Hanmi Science's total shares, while opponents of the plan, including the Lim brothers, account for 40.57 percent.

Consequently, the National Pension Service, which holds 7.66 percent of Hanmi Science's shares, is expected to have a decisive vote.

Hanmi Pharm is one of the top five Korean pharmaceutical companies, while OCI Holdings was the 38th-largest firm in the country, by total amount of assets, as of last year.

Yonhap