Chairman Cho Wontae Discloses Additional Purchase of Hanjin KAL Shares Worth KRW 37 Billion

Hoban Group Seeks FTC Review of Business Combination
Little Chance of a Change in the Largest Shareholder or Control

Yonhap News Agency

Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin Group, has bought additional shares in Hanjin KAL, the group’s holding company. The move is seen as an effort to secure a larger stake after Hoban Group increased its holdings in Hanjin KAL and then filed a business combination report with the Fair Trade Commission.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s Electronic Disclosure System on November 2, Cho disclosed that he had signed a stock purchase agreement to buy 325,000 common shares of Hanjin KAL at KRW 114,000 per share. The deal is worth KRW 37.05 billion in total. The purchase is scheduled to take place from December 3, 2026, through January 1, 2027, via an after-hours block trade.

Once the transaction is completed, Cho’s stake in Hanjin KAL, including preferred shares, will rise from 5.75% to 6.23%. His stake in voting common shares will increase by 0.49 percentage points. Including the holdings of related parties, the stake held by Cho and his affiliates will amount to 21.06%.

The additional share acquisition is seen as a response to Hoban Group’s increased stake. Hoban Group recently said it had also acquired additional Hanjin KAL shares through market purchases. The group believes that its stake may now exceed the stake held by Cho and his affiliates. It said it filed a business combination report last month under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act and is awaiting the outcome.

Under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, a company whose total assets or sales exceed the thresholds set by law must report a business combination if it owns at least 15% of another listed company or becomes that company’s largest shareholder through subsequent acquisitions.

As of July 10, Hoban Group held a 20.15% stake in Hanjin KAL, narrowing the gap with Cho’s stake of 20.57% as of June 30 to 0.42 percentage points and making it the company’s second-largest shareholder.

However, the prevailing view is that control of the company will not change immediately, given the stakes held by Delta Air Lines and Korea Development Bank, which are known to be friendly to Cho. As of the end of the first half of 2026, Delta Air Lines held a 14.90% stake in Hanjin KAL, while Korea Development Bank held 10.58%.

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