[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that the owner family of JoongAng Group has provided a large volume of personal real estate as collateral to secure investments for their core affiliate, SLL JoongAng. The list includes the Hannam-dong residence of JoongAng Holdings Chairman Hong Seok-hyun, the Joan-ri, Namyangju home of Vice Chairman Hong Jung-do, the Hannam The Hill property of Contentree JoongAng CEO Hong Jung-in, and even family ancestral burial grounds in Wolpo-ri, Icheon. This is the first time the details of the real estate put up as collateral by the owner family during the SLL JoongAng investment process have been verified.
According to BizHankook's coverage, Curious Bridge established collateralized mortgages (geun-jeodang-gwon) on 102 properties belonging to the JoongAng Group owner family on the 18th. The debtors are Chairman Hong Seok-hyun, Vice Chairman Hong Jung-do, and CEO Hong Jung-in, with the maximum debt amount set at 130 billion KRW. On the same day, a pledge on the collateralized mortgage-backed bonds was also established, with KDB Capital as the creditor for a maximum of 60 billion KRW.
The collateral includes a wide range of properties, from the owner family's homes to ancestral burial grounds. A total of 102 items, including land and buildings in Jongno and Yongsan in Seoul, as well as Namyangju, Icheon, and Goyang in Gyeonggi-do, were involved, totaling 293,624 square meters in land area. Assets tied up as collateral include Chairman Hong Seok-hyun's Hannam-dong home, land in Onjieum and Cheongun-dong in Jongno-gu, CEO Hong Jung-in's Hannam The Hill, Vice Chairman Hong Jung-do's Joan-ri house, as well as farmland, forest land, and ancestral burial grounds in Wolpo-ri, Icheon, and land and a detached house in Jichuk-dong, Goyang.
Many of the collateralized properties are assets the owner family has held for a long time. Chairman Hong Seok-hyun purchased the main building of his Hannam-dong home in 2011 for 1.4 billion KRW. The Joan-ri house in Namyangju was registered under Chairman Hong in 2005 and gifted to Vice Chairman Hong Jung-do in 2016. CEO Hong Jung-in purchased Hannam The Hill in 2020 for 7.6 billion KRW, and the land in Jichuk-dong, Goyang, was acquired around 2015. A detached house registered under Chairman Hong Seok-hyun was built there in 2023.
These properties were provided as collateral during the SLL JoongAng investment process by Curious. Curious decided to acquire 50 billion KRW in SLL JoongAng convertible bonds (CB) and 55 billion KRW in Praxis Chateau Holdings' convertible preferred shares (CPS), totaling 105 billion KRW. The mortgage was established on the owner family's real estate on the 18th, the payment date for the CB. During this process, the owner family provided approximately 130 billion KRW in private assets as collateral, including BGF Retail and Samsung Electronics stocks, as well as real estate.
Some properties have overlapping existing and new collateral. A joint mortgage with a maximum debt amount of 36 billion KRW, with Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of Leeum Museum of Art, as the mortgagee, had already been established on 73 properties, including the Hannam-dong home and properties in Icheon and Namyangju. Curious Bridge added 29 properties in Jongno, Yongsan, and Goyang to these assets, tying 102 properties into a joint collateral pool.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Praxis Chateau Holdings also established separate mortgages on 27 of the owner family's properties. These include three plots in Cheongun-dong, Hannam The Hill, and properties in Jichuk-dong, Goyang, with a maximum debt amount of 68 billion KRW. A pledge on these mortgage-backed bonds was also set up, with 10 entities, including Shinhan Securities, as creditors for a maximum of 68 billion KRW. The specific secured debt for the mortgage held by Praxis has not been confirmed.
SLL JoongAng is a key content production company of JoongAng Group, with Contentree JoongAng holding a 53.82% stake. Established in 1999, it plans, produces, and distributes content such as dramas and entertainment, recording an average annual revenue of approximately 570 billion KRW since 2021. However, as JoongAng Group affiliates undergo rehabilitation and workouts, SLL JoongAng has also faced difficulties in financial refinancing, with its credit ratings for corporate bonds and electronic short-term bonds falling to B- and C, respectively, according to Korea Ratings.