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"Shin Dong-gook, Song Young-sook, Lim Ju-hyun, and La Defense Together..." Hanmi's 4-Party Alliance Holds 'Showdown' Before Impending Collapse

[비즈한국] It has been identified that the four-party alliance of major shareholders of Hanmi Science008930 has gathered in one place. With the conflict between the largest shareholder, Shin Dong-gook (Chairman of Hanyang Precision), and Park Jae-hyun (CEO of Hanmi Pharmaceutical)128940 reaching a breaking point, raising concerns about the potential dissolution of the four-party alliance, the meeting is interpreted as an attempt to discuss a compromise to prevent catastrophe and resolve the situation.

According to Biz Hankook's investigation, four key figures of the four-party alliance—Hanmi Science Chairwoman Song Young-sook, Vice Chairwoman Lim Ju-hyun, Hanyang Precision Chairman Shin Dong-gook, and Kim Nam-kyu, CEO of the private equity firm La Defense—held a surprise meeting at the Hanmi Tower in Songpa-gu, Seoul, around 10:30 AM on the 26th.

It is known that this is the first time these four individuals have gathered together in one place as a complete group since the formation of the four-party alliance. The industry believes that the fact that they, who have previously communicated through proxies or individually, gathered abruptly suggests they feel a serious sense of crisis regarding the current situation at Hanmi Pharmaceutical.

A tight sense of tension was also felt at the scene. The protest signs denouncing Chairman Shin, which had been placed in the Hanmi Tower lobby until the previous day, were temporarily removed on the morning of this day. However, the employee signature desk for denouncing Chairman Shin remained in place on one side, and the employees' picket protest resumed during lunchtime.

The industry believes that the key agenda for the four-party alliance on this day was whether or not to support the reappointment of CEO Park at the upcoming regular shareholders' meeting of Hanmi Pharmaceutical next month, and how to maintain the four-party alliance accordingly.

Previously, when CEO Park exposed Chairman Shin's alleged unfair management interference, Chairman Shin held a press conference to counter-expose that CEO Park had bypassed the board of directors to ask for support for his reappointment, bringing tensions between the two sides to a peak.

Amid this clash, the mother-daughter duo (Song Young-sook and Lim Ju-hyun) find themselves in a dilemma. They cannot abandon CEO Park, who supported them in past management disputes, but they also cannot afford to clash with Chairman Shin, the largest shareholder of the holding company.

Consequently, the role of Kim Nam-kyu, CEO of the financial investor (FI) La Defense, is drawing attention. As a private equity firm that prioritizes securing investment returns and stabilizing corporate governance, the key question is what mediation proposal they will put forward between the mother-daughter duo and Chairman Shin to prevent the collapse of the four-party alliance and a drop in stock prices.

It is speculated that Chairman Shin strongly pressured the mother-daughter side to agree to oppose CEO Park's reappointment and support a management change. In particular, Chairman Shin recently purchased 188.4 billion won worth of Hanmi Science shares held by Lim Jong-yoon, Chairman of Core Group and eldest son of the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group founder, effectively holding a silent threat card that he could join forces with the brothers at any time.

An official from Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group stated, "Chairwoman Song comes to the office periodically," and added, "It is difficult to confirm whether the four-party alliance met."