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| 금호석유화학 본사 전경. (사진=금호석유화학) |
[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] A court ruled in favor of Kumho Petrochemical in a lawsuit filed by former executive director Park Chul-wan (44), the largest shareholder of Kumho Petrochemical, to nullify the exchange of equity shares between Kumho Petrochemical and OCI.
According to Kumho Petrochemical on the 1st, the Civil Affairs Department 31 of the Seoul Central District Court ruled "dismissal" on a lawsuit filed by Park and others against Kumho Petrochemical in June last year.
In 2021, Kumho Petrochemical Group's Kumho P&B Chemical and OCI Group's Malaysian subsidiary OCIMSB announced the establishment of "OCI Kumho," a joint venture of eco-friendly bio ECH, and exchanged 31.5 billion won worth of treasury shares to strengthen strategic partnership between the two sides, according to Kumho Petrochemical.
As a result, Kumho Petrochemical's 171,847 common shares and OCI's 298,900 common shares were exchanged. Kumho Petrochemical decided to incinerate an additional 171,847 shares, the same as the number of exchanged shares, to enhance shareholder value.
In response, former director Park filed an injunction with the Seoul Central District Court in February last year to ban the exercise of voting rights for shares exchanged for OCI, claiming the stock exchange was aimed at defending management rights, and after the court rejected the request, he/she later filed a lawsuit on the main case.
Park, the eldest son of the late Kumho Group Chairman Park Jung-koo (died in 2002), was dismissed from the company in 2021 after causing a management dispute against his uncle, Kumho Petrochemical Chairman Park Chan-koo (75).
Although he stepped down from management, Kumho Petrochemical's shares held by Park as of the end of September this year were still the largest individual with 8.87%. If the stakes of related parties are added together, the share ratio is 10.57%. Chairman Park holds a total of 6.7% stake. Including the related parties, the stake is 14%.
OCI can exercise voting rights as much as the number of shares exchanged, so Park is expected to secure additional friendly shares according to the ruling.
AlphaBIZ 김지선(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
