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Hanmi family feud draws to a close with win for matriarch's faction

Published: 26 Dec. 2024, 18:17 Updated: 26 Dec. 2024, 18:38

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

Headquarters of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group [HANMI PHARMACEUTICAL GROUP]

The yearlong family feud surrounding Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group is drawing to an end as Hanmi Science Director Lim Jong-yoon moves to reconcile with his mother, Hanmi Pharm’s Chairman Song Yeong-sook, by loading off 126.5 billion won ($82 million) worth of his stake to allies on her side.

Lim, eldest son of the pharmaceutical company’s founder, the late Lim Sung-ki, will sell a 5 percent stake in the company, or 2,051,747 shares, to Hanyang Precision Chairman Shin Dong-kuk and 1,367,831 shares to private equity firm La Defense Partners.

The sale price per share is 37,000 won, according to Hanmi Science’s electronic disclosure on Thursday.

Shin, Hanmi Science’s largest individual shareholder, backs the alliance led by Song and her daughter Lim Joo-hyun, Hanmi Pharm’s vice chairman.

The transaction is set to be completed on Jan. 27, after which the mother-daughter faction will command the majority of shares of Hanmi Science, Hanmi Pharm’s holding company.

“With this agreement, we aim to swiftly stabilize the group’s governance issues and address concerns associated with the risk of a large stock sell-off that have long suppressed shareholder value,” Song’s alliance said in a statement. “This settlement will bring an end to the management dispute […] Moving forward, Hanmi will move in a unified direction toward sustainable growth.”

The two sides also decided to drop all lawsuits and complaints filed against each other.

The family dispute erupted in January after a merger announcement between solar company OCI Holdings and Hanmi Pharm, which brothers Lim Jong-yoon and Jong-hoon opposed while the mother-led faction favored.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]