[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that a management consulting firm controlled by Woo Ji-young, the second daughter of SM Group Chairman Woo Oh-hyun, changed its corporate name to 'SM Holdings' shortly after its establishment last May. The registered headquarters address is identical to that of 'Samra', which is considered the parent company and de facto holding company of the SM Group. While the circumstances suggest a potential transition to a holding company structure for the SM Group, the group has dismissed these claims, stating, "There are no discussions or plans whatsoever regarding a transition to a holding company."
Taecho Holdings, a subsidiary of Woo Ji-young’s private firm HN E&C (formerly Taecho E&C), changed its name to 'SM Holdings' last May. The company is a management consulting firm established with a 50 million won investment from HN E&C in the same month. Currently, Woo Ji-young serves as the CEO, her husband Park Heung-jun (Head of SM Group’s Management Integrity Division) serves as an executive director, and two accounting employees from the SM Group affiliate Kyungnam Enterprise serve as an executive director and auditor, respectively.
HN E&C, the parent company of SM Holdings, is a construction firm 100% owned by Woo Ji-young. Established in July 2017 with a capital of 100 million won, it showed little operational activity for a while before expanding its size by absorbing and merging with HN Inc., a construction firm previously classified as part of the Pan-Hyundai family, last month. Immediately after the acquisition, the company name was changed from Taecho E&C to HN E&C, adopting the name of the merged company. As of last year, the company was in a state of capital impairment with total equity standing at -300 million won.
Woo Ji-young, who controls these companies, is the second daughter of SM Group Chairman Woo Oh-hyun. Chairman Woo, who built the SM Group, has five children: eldest daughter Woo Yeon-ah, second daughter Woo Ji-young, third daughter Woo Myung-ah, eldest son Woo Ki-won, and fourth daughter Woo Geon-hee. It is known that the three daughters were born to Chairman Woo's legal wife, surnamed Shim, while the eldest son Woo Ki-won and the fourth daughter Woo Myung-ah were born to the late Kim Hye-ran, a former director of Samra Midas who was in a common-law relationship with the Chairman.
Previously, the eldest son, Woo Ki-won, was considered the most likely successor for the SM Group. This follows the merger of Rado, a company 100% owned by Woo Ki-won, into Samra Midas in May 2021. Samra Midas holds stakes in nine SM Group affiliates, including SM Bexel (35%), Woobang (19%), Kukil Paper078130 (89%), Dong-A Construction Industrial (48%), Sinchon Station (100%), SM Merchant Marine (41%), SM Hwajin (60%), STX Construction (100%), and STX Construction Industry (100%). Through that merger, Woo Ki-won acquired a 25.99% stake in Samra Midas—previously entirely owned by Chairman Woo Oh-hyun—becoming the second-largest shareholder.
The notable point is the name change of Woo Ji-young's private company to 'SM Holdings'. It is significant that a company effectively run by an individual, Woo Ji-young, uses the group name 'SM' and the term 'Holdings', which signifies a parent company. It is a name that could imply an SM Group holding company. As of May this year, the private companies operated by Chairman Woo Oh-hyun’s children are second daughter Woo Ji-young’s HN E&C, eldest son Woo Ki-won’s Najin (100% stake), and fourth daughter Woo Geon-hee’s Konis (100% stake), none of which were known to use the group name.
The headquarters address of SM Holdings is also identical to that of Samra, which is currently referred to as the SM Group's holding company. SM Holdings is currently headquartered on the second floor of a building in Changjeon-dong, Icheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, which also houses the headquarters of Samra and SM Steel. Samra is the successor to Samra Construction, the original roots of the SM Group, and currently holds stakes in 13 affiliates. The largest shareholder of Samra is Chairman Woo Oh-hyun, who holds a 68.8% stake. Woo Ji-young currently holds auditing positions in affiliates including Samra, Woobang, and Samhwan Enterprise.
SM Group affiliates in which Samra currently holds stakes include Namsun Aluminum004270 (30%), Woobang (9%), UBC (30%), KL Holdings (32%), Dong-A Construction Industrial (20%), SM Merchant Marine (29%), SM Steel (24%), SM Credit Information (20%), SM Industry (48%), SM Asset Development (19%), SM Heavy Industries (19%), SM Hi-Plus (4%), and Woobang Construction (15%).
An official encountered on the 11th at the building in Changjeon-dong, Icheon-si—where the headquarters of Samra, Samra Steel, and SM Holdings are located—stated, "(This is indeed the office of SM Holdings). All the staff are currently out on field work, so it is difficult to provide details."
In response to inquiries regarding the name change of SM Holdings, an SM Group official stated, "There is nothing we can confirm," while dismissing the matter by adding, "There are no discussions or plans at all regarding a transition to a holding company."