[Edaily Reporter kyoungeun kim ] HANJINKAL’s stock price is showing strength in early trading on the 3rd. This is believed to be driven by buying interest sparked by the possibility of a stake battle, following news that HANJIN Logistics Corporation Chairman Walter Cho plans to purchase additional HANJINKAL shares for approximately 37 billion won.

According to MP Doctor, as of 9:15 a.m. today, HANJINKAL(180640)is trading at 145,800 won, up 11,000 won (+8.16%) from the previous trading day.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system, Chairman Cho signed a stock purchase agreement the previous day to buy 325,000 shares of HANJINKAL common stock at 114,000 won per share. The total anticipated transaction amount is 37.05 billion won. The transaction is scheduled to take place via after-hours block trading from the 3rd of next month through January 1 of next year. Once the purchase is complete, Chairman Cho’s holdings in HANJINKAL will increase from 3,869,612 shares to 4,194,612 shares, and his individual ownership stake will rise by 0.48 percentage points, from 5.75% to 6.23%.

This share purchase was initiated amid speculation that Hoban Group’s acquisition of additional HANJINKAL shares could lead to a change in the company’s largest shareholder. Hoban Group became the second-largest shareholder in 2022 after acquiring HANJINKAL shares held by the private equity fund KCGI. Since then, it has steadily increased its stake, securing 20.15% as of last July. At that time, the combined stake held by Chairman Cho and his affiliates stood at 20.57%, with the gap between the two sides being a mere 0.42 percentage points. It is reported that Hoban Group recently purchased additional HANJINKAL shares and filed a merger notification with the Fair Trade Commission last month.

However, HANJINKAL maintains that Chairman Cho’s recent share purchase is unrelated to Hoban Group’s expansion of its stake. A HANJINKAL official stated, “We understand this is a matter that has been in the works for some time and is unrelated to Hoban Group’s actions.” Since Chairman Cho’s side has also secured stakes from friendly shareholders such as Delta Air Lines in the U.S., there is speculation that changes in HANJINKAL’s corporate governance structure could occur depending on the scale of Hoban Group’s additional stake acquisition and the future actions of these friendly shareholders.