Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn is transferring nearly half of his 22.65% stake in Hanwha Corp. to his three sons. He will gift a total of 11.32%, with his eldest son, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan, receiving 4.86%, while his younger sons, Hanwha Life President Kim Dong-won and Hanwha Galleria Vice President Kim Dong-seon, will each receive 3.23%. Hanwha Group emphasized that the transfer aims to dispel speculation that Hanwha Aerospace’s 3.6 trillion won rights offering is linked to succession planning.
With this transfer, Kim Dong-kwan becomes the largest individual shareholder of Hanwha Corp., the group’s de facto holding company. A Hanwha official said, “This finalizes the succession to the third generation of the founding family.” Before the transfer, Hanwha Corp. was primarily owned by Chairman Kim (22.65%), his three sons (32.35%), and Hanwha Energy (22.16%), which is fully owned by his sons.
The transfer increases the three sons' combined stake, including Hanwha Energy’s holdings, to nearly 42.67%, with Kim Dong-kwan’s personal stake reaching 20.85%. While Chairman Kim’s stake has been reduced by half, he will remain group chairman, leveraging his experience and global network to support the company.
The timing of the announcement coincides with Hanwha Aerospace’s recent capital raise, which the company described as necessary for long-term investment in its defense business. In February, before the capital increase, Hanwha Energy and its subsidiary Hanwha Impact acquired a 7.3% stake in Hanwha Ocean for about 1.3 trillion won. Some market analysts speculated that while Hanwha Aerospace was securing investment funds through a rights offering, Hanwha Energy was receiving cash, raising doubts that the move was linked to succession planning. They suggested that the liquidity secured by Hanwha Energy could eventually be used to facilitate the transfer of Chairman Kim’s remaining Hanwha Corp. stake to his sons.
However, Hanwha Group dismissed the speculation, saying, “The rights offering is strictly for future business investments, and Chairman Kim expedited the share transfer to make that clear.” The estimated gift tax for the transfer, based on Hanwha Corp.’s average stock price in March, is about 221.8 billion won. Hanwha Corp.’s stock price, which had hovered between 20,000 and 30,000 won over the past three years, surged recently, closing at 40,950 won on March 31.
“The chairman proceeded with the transfer despite the increased tax burden to clear any misunderstandings,” a Hanwha official said. “The group’s priority is to resolve the controversy swiftly and focus on its core businesses.”
