The Kumho Asiana Group chairman’s long-awaited dream to bring back his business empire under his control is likely to be realized, with his reacquisition of Kumho Industrial, the de facto holding firm of the group. He also has been working to regain control of Kumho Tire. He recently reacquired Kumho Terminal and merged the company with Kumho Enterprise while doing the same with cooperative firms of Kumho Tire, which many consider part of his strategy to rebuild the Kumho-Asiana Group.
In 2010, the group’s affiliates, including Kumho Tire and Kumho Industry, were placed under a workout by their creditors, with the group giving up management rights for the two major affiliates of the group.
Chairman Park regained management control of Kumho Industry last year and has since been working to recapture the management right of Kumho Tire.
Kumho Industrial Co., the de facto holding company of South Korea’s large conglomerate Kumho Asiana Group, appointed Park Se-chang, the eldest son of the group Chairman Park Sam-koo, as a registered board member, a move that is expected to solidify and speed up the group’s management succession to the third generation of the owner.
Kumho Industrial said Park Se-chang was approved as a registered board director during its regular shareholders’ meeting on Monday. In February, Park was also appointed as a president of Kumho Asiana Group in charge of the group’s strategic management and chief executive officer of Asiana Sabre Inc., the group’s data management service arm.
Creditors of Kumho Industrial agreed to sell their majority stake in the company to chairman Park Sam-koo for 723 billion won ($622.57 million), 18.1 billion won higher than his earlier offer price.
“As creditors haven’t found any other buyer, they will likely wrap up the deal with Park as early as the end of the year,” a source familiar with the matter said.
It was a major step in the months-long negotiation as the price gap between the two parties was high — as much as 400 billion won.
Park needs to inform the creditors whether he wants to exercise his stock buyback option for 50 percent and one share in Kumho Industrial at the suggested price by Sept. 30.
The chairman has been eager to buy back the builder because it controls the country’s second largest carrier Asiana Airlines and other key affiliates of the group.
If Park accepts the proposal, he will be able to have a hold on the group’s affiliates six years after he lost control of Kumho Industrial. The group’s holding company entered a workout program in 2010 after being hit by a liquidity crunch.
Kumho Asiana Group, founded in 1946 by his late father Park In-chon, sprawled businesses from airline to construction, and advanced into one of the country’s top 10 business groups in early 2000s. But Kumho Industrial’s acquisition sprees, including Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Korea Express, forced the group into liquidity problems following the global financial crisis in 2009.
Experts said the last challenge that Park faces is securing enough cash to pay 723 billion won for the buyout by the end of the year.
Park and his son Se-chang hold 5.04 percent and 4.86 percent stake in Kumho Industrial, respectively, worth some 69 billion won in market value.
Park Se-chang of a registered board director of Kumho Industrial Co., the de facto holding company of Kumho Asiana Group. (Photos:Kumho Asiana Group)
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