April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korean food, packaging and logistics conglomerate Dongsuh Companies is changing its ownership structure amid talks of third-generation succession.

Founder Kim Jae-myung’s elder son Kim Sang-heon, has been offloading his shares in the family-owned conglomerate while his son has been increasing his stake.

San-heon, who is an advisor with the company, now holds 1.96 million shares, or 19.66 percent, in the KOSPI-listed company after selling 300,000 shares in the after-hours session on April 7, according to a report filed with the Financial Supervisory Service. Last year, his stake was as high as 20.61 percent. 

On the other hand, his son Kim Jong-hee has increased his stake to 10.54 percent, having bought 60,661 shares from March 29 to April 4.

Six years ago, the difference in stake held by father and son was more than 30 percentage points, but the gap has narrowed to 10 percentage points as of April 12. In 2011, Jong-hee held 3.53 percent stake while his father, then chairman of the company, held 36.53 percent.

The 40-year-old heir apparent was promoted to executive director of the company three years ago when his father stepped down as chairman.

Dongsuh is nearly 67 percent controlled by its founding family including Dongsuh Foods Chairman Kim Seok-su, San-heon’s younger brother, who holds 19.48 percent stake.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)