Hoban Group has emerged as the largest shareholder of Hanjin Kal, the holding company of Korean Air.
Hanjin Kal announced in a public filing that its largest shareholder changed from ‘Cho Won-tae and 18 others’ to ‘Hoban Construction and 3 others.’ Hobanβs stake stood at 20.69% (13,814,053 shares), edging out Chairman Choβs side by 0.11 percentage points (75,134 shares), which was 20.58% (13,738,919 shares).
The change in the largest shareholder stems from Hoban’s open-market stock purchases. Hanjin Kal confirmed the change after receiving notice from Hoban Construction. Hoban maintained its investment purpose as ‘simple investment,’ the same as before.
Hoban Construction has been steadily buying shares after acquiring private equity fund KCGIβs stake in Hanjin Kal in 2022. Its stake, which stood at 20.15% in July, has now increased to 20.69%.
Chairman Cho is also poised to expand his stake. According to a filing, Cho signed a contract to additionally acquire 325,000 common shares of Hanjin Kal (worth approximately 37 billion KRW). The transaction is scheduled to take place between next month and January 1 of next year.
If the contract is executed as planned and there are no other equity changes, Chairman Cho’s holdings will increase to 14,063,919 shares, putting him ahead of Hoban by 249,866 shares. Korean Air stated that once Chairman Cho completes the purchase of the 325,000 shares (0.49%), the largest shareholder may change back to Chairman Cho and his special related parties.
Meanwhile, the Korea Development Bank, which holds a 10.58% stake in Hanjin Kal, stated that it has no plans to sell its stake until the structural reorganization of the aviation industryβincluding the integration of Korean Air and Asiana Airlinesβis completed. Delta Air Lines, classified as a friendly shareholder to Chairman Cho, also holds a 14.90% stake. Therefore, this change in the largest shareholder does not immediately lead to a shift in management control at Hanjin Kal.
