[Edaily Reporter Jeong Yun-ji ] It has been confirmed that Hoban Group has surpassed the stake held by HANJINKAL Chairman Walter Cho to become the largest shareholder. The group has currently filed a merger notification with the Fair Trade Commission and is undergoing review.

A Hoban Group official stated on the 2nd, “We applied for a business combination review with the Fair Trade Commission last month, and the review is currently underway,” adding, “(The reason for acquiring the HANJINKAL stake) is purely for investment purposes.”

According to industry sources on that day, Hoban Group recently acquired additional HANJINKAL shares through on-market purchases. It is understood that this acquisition surpassed the approximately 20.6% stake held by HANJIN Logistics Corporation Chairman Walter Cho and his affiliates.

Consequently, the Fair Trade Commission is conducting a merger review regarding Hoban Group’s additional acquisition of HANJINKAL shares. Under the current Fair Trade Act, companies above a certain size are required to report a merger if they acquire 15% or more of a listed company’s shares or purchase additional shares while already holding 15% or more.

Previously, as of July, the gap in shareholdings between Hoban Group and Chairman Cho’s side was only 0.42 percentage points (p). At that time, Hoban Group held 20.15%, while Chairman Cho’s side held 20.57%. Since then, as Hoban Group moved to secure additional shares, the shareholdings of the two sides appear to have reversed.

Ho-ban Group has been steadily acquiring shares in HANJINKAL since 2022. At that time, it became the second-largest shareholder by acquiring a 13.97% stake in HANJINKAL—previously held by the private equity fund KCGI—for approximately 564 billion won. It also expanded its stake to 17.43% through on-market purchases and the exercise of call options. Although Hoban Group sold a portion of its holdings at one point, it has continued to increase its stake in HANJINKAL by leveraging affiliates such as Hoban Hotel & Resort.

However, control of the company will not change immediately. Chairman Cho’s bloc also holds a significant 46.05% stake. Key supporters of Chairman Cho include △Delta Air Lines (14.90%) and △the Korea Development Bank (10.58%). Hoban Group has not officially expressed any intention to participate in management.