이 기사는 2021년 08월 05일 06:28 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Park Chul-wan, a nephew of Kumho Petrochemical chairman Park Chan-koo and former senior vice president at the company, has given part of his shares in the company to his three sisters, a move that signals he is preparing for a second round of a fight over control of the company.

A regulatory filing on Tuesday said Chul-wan gifted 152,400 of the company’s shares each to his three older sisters – Eun-hyeong, Eun-gyeong and Eun-hye. This reduced his stake in Kumho Petrochemical from 10.03% to 8.53%.

The move comes about five months after Chul-wan’s mother and father-in-law, Cosmo Group chairman Huh Kyung-soo, purchased a small portion of the company’s shares in March.

Chul-wan is still the largest individual shareholder in the company, followed by chairman Park with 6.69% and his eldest son Jun-kyung with 7.17%.

It is likely that the gift of shares will give Chul-wan an advantage in a dispute with his uncle over control of Kumho Petrochemical as his three brothers-in-law who are businessmen could support him, industry watchers said.

His oldest sister, Eun-hyeong, who was born in 1970, married golf resort Adonis’s vice chairman Kim Seon-hyup, the son of founder and former Daewoo Group chairman Kim Woo-choong. Eun-gyeong, born in 1972, married steel company KISCO’s president Jang Se-hong. Iljin Materials chief executive Heo Jae-myeong is husband of Eun-hye, who was born in 1974.

Observers noted that they and Cosmo Group chairman Huh could act as allies to Chul-wan in a possible proxy fight between him and chairman Park in the future.

There is no significant change in the dynamics of the company’s ownership as Chul-wan’s sisters did not purchase shares from a third party but received them from their brother. However, the move by Chul-wan to gather allies itself could make chairman Park feel pressured.

“After effectively losing a proxy battle with his uncle at March’s annual meeting, Park Chul-wan signified his next move by saying that this was only the beginning,” said an industry insider. “With this move to gather allies, he is probably trying to pressure chairman Park.”

“There is nothing to comment on that,” a representative for Kumho Petrochemical said of Chul-wan’s gift of shares to his sisters. (Reporting by Ki-soo Park)