A company disclosure put Hoban Construction ahead of Hanjin Group Chairman Walter Cho in Hanjin KAL by 0.11 percentage point, though a planned purchase may soon reverse the ranking.
Hanjin KAL, the group’s holding company, said Wednesday that Hoban Construction and its affiliates held 20.69% of its shares. Cho and related parties held 20.58%.
According to The Korea Herald, Cho plans to acquire 325,000 shares in early December. The newspaper said the purchase could raise Cho’s stake to 21.07%.
Hoban’s position has grown since it acquired shares from activist fund KCGI in 2022. The Korea Herald reported that Hoban held 20.15% in July, 0.42 percentage point behind Cho’s group.
The Korea Herald said the current ranking does not immediately threaten Cho’s management control. It reported that Delta Air Lines and state-run Korea Development Bank held 14.90% and 10.58%, respectively, as of June. Hanjin Group has said those holdings offer sufficient support against a management challenge, the newspaper reported.
Hoban has described its share purchases as passive investments, according to The Korea Herald. The newspaper reported speculation that Hoban might seek a board seat at the company’s annual meeting next March. It also identified the future of Korea Development Bank’s stake as a possible factor in Hanjin KAL’s ownership structure; the paper said Korean Air is working toward completing its integration with Asiana Airlines in December.
