Bonjun Koo of LX Gifts 7.85% Stake to 38-Year-Old Eldest Son, No Shares to Daughter

Bonjun Koo Gifts LX Holdings Shares to Hyungmo Koo
Hyungmo Koo Becomes Largest Shareholder of LX Holdings at Age 38

Bonjun Koo, Chairman of LX Holdings, has changed the company’s largest shareholder by gifting a portion of his shares to his eldest son, Hyungmo Koo, CEO of LX MDI.

Koo Bon-joon, Chairman of LX Holdings. Provided by LX Holdings.

On the 10th, LX Holdings announced that, as previously disclosed last month, Chairman Koo has gifted 7.85% of his 19.99% stake in LX Holdings to CEO Koo.

With this transfer, CEO Koo—born in 1987 and currently 38 years old—has increased his stake in LX Holdings from 11.92% to 19.77%, making him the largest shareholder. After majoring in economics at Cornell University, he worked for the strategic planning team of LG Electronics and others. In 2021, the same year LX was spun off from LG, he was appointed managing director at LX Holdings.

Subsequently, in 2022, he was promoted to executive director of LX Holdings and later that year became CEO of the newly established management consulting subsidiary, LX MDI. LX MDI provides management consulting services to affiliates such as LX International, LX Pantos, and LX Hausys. Last year, LX MDI reported sales of 9.9 billion won and operating profit of 700 million won, both relatively modest amounts.

Hyungmo Koo, CEO of LX MDI. Provided by LX MDI.

Compared to his cousin, LG Chairman Kwangmo Koo, CEO Koo became the largest shareholder about two years earlier. Chairman Koo became LG's largest shareholder in 2018 at the age of 40, when he was also promoted to chairman.

Unlike the previous round in 2021, when Chairman Koo gifted 11.14% to CEO Koo and 8.52% to his second daughter, Yeonje Koo, only CEO Koo was included in this latest share transfer, with Ms. Koo excluded.

Industry estimates suggest that CEO Koo, who received shares worth approximately 47.4 billion won this time, will incur a gift tax of about 25 billion to 28 billion won. When he previously received shares in 2021, he provided a 9.43% stake in LX Holdings as collateral to the Gangnam Tax Office in order to pay the gift tax in installments (annual payment plan), and it is expected that he will use installment payments for this year's gift tax as well. Last year, LX Holdings paid a dividend of 290 won per common share, with CEO Koo's dividend income amounting to around 2.7 billion won.

However, since Chairman Koo still owns 12.14% of LX Holdings and CEO Koo has not yet returned to the parent company, the succession process is not yet fully complete.

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