Older Generation Sells, Younger Generation Buys: GS Owner Family Restructures Shareholdings

Hur Dongsoo Sells 150,000 Shares in Two Months

Hur Gwangsoo and Hur Yeonsoo Also Continue Share Sales

Younger Owners Like Hur Jeonghyeon Buy 155,200 Shares

The structure of share ownership by generation in the GS Group owner family is undergoing change. While senior or retired members of the owner family are successively selling their shares in the holding company to secure liquidity, some members of the younger generation are consistently acquiring shares and expanding their equity base within the group.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on August 28, Dongsoo Heo, Honorary Chairman of GS Caltex, sold 20,000 ordinary shares of GS each on July 24 and July 26 on the market, followed by an additional sale of 45,000 shares on July 27. The total number of shares disposed of over the four-day period is 85,000. As a result, Honorary Chairman Heo’s holdings in GS decreased from 1,595,000 shares to 1,510,000 shares.

On July 6, Honorary Chairman Heo also sold 65,000 GS shares on the market an average of 76,564 won per share, securing 4,976.65 million won. In a report filed on July 20, he announced his plan to sell an additional 95,000 shares on the market between August 20 and September 18. The expected transaction amount is 7,866 million won, with the stated purpose of the transaction being 'to secure financial liquidity.'

Afterwards, Honorary Chairman Heo went on to actually dispose of 85,000 of the planned shares between July 24 and 27. Combining the shares sold in July, a total of 150,000 shares have been sold within two months. Of the initially planned additional sales, 10,000 shares remain. This trend is interpreted as a phase-by-phase cash-out of holdings rather than a one-off transaction.

The sale of shares by the older generation of the GS owner family has continued throughout the year. Gwangsoo Heo, Chairman of Samyang International, sold 69,000 GS shares in April for approximately 4.9 billion won, and went on to sell another 64,983 shares between late June and early July. Yeonsu Heo, former Vice Chairman of GS Retail, also sold 75,000 shares between late January and early February, and disposed of another 50,000 shares this month. Combined, these three—Honorary Chairman Heo, Chairman Gwangsoo Heo, and former Vice Chairman Yeonsu Heo—have sold a total of 408,983 GS shares this year.

On the other hand, some members of the younger owner family are increasing their GS stakes. Jeonghyeon Heo, daughter of GS Group Chairman Taesoo Heo, bought 79,200 shares between January and February and purchased an additional 46,777 shares last month. This brings her total buy for the year to 125,977 shares. Jeonghong Heo, the second son of GS Energy Vice Chairman Yongsu Heo, acquired 66,000 shares for roughly 4.7 billion won in June, while Sungjoon Heo, eldest son of SYTS CEO Junghong Heo, bought 10,000 shares for about 723 million won in April. Altogether, these three people purchased a total of 201,977 GS shares on the market this year.

Although the selling volume by the older generation is greater than the purchases made by the younger generation, the generational direction of trading is clear. While the senior generation is reducing their holdings, some younger members are steadily acquiring shares and establishing a long-term equity base.

This round of share changes includes not only transactions by individual owners but also sales by affiliates. SYTS (formerly Samyang Trading), an affiliate of GS and part of the largest shareholder group, sold 41,000 GS shares between July 24 and 27. As a result, SYTS's holding in GS decreased from 111,000 shares to 70,000 shares.

Due to the sales by Honorary Chairman Heo and SYTS, the holding of ordinary shares by GS's largest shareholder group and related parties decreased by 126,000 shares from 4,947,1657 shares to 4,934,5657 shares compared to the previous report. The ordinary shareholding ratio declined as well, dropping from 53.26% to 53.12%, down 0.14 percentage points.

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