Kwak Dong-shin, chairman of Hanmi Semiconductor (042700.KS), has purchased additional treasury shares using 8 billion won of his personal funds. The move is seen as an expression of confidence in the company's dominance in the bonding equipment market central to global high-bandwidth memory (HBM), as well as in mid- to long-term growth momentum driven by investment in U.S. aerospace infrastructure.
Kwak disclosed Tuesday that he had acquired 8 billion won worth of treasury shares at 338,917 won per share, a 2.3% discount to the previous day's closing price of 347,000 won. The purchase fulfills a treasury share acquisition plan disclosed on May 19. With this, the total value of treasury shares Kwak has bought with his personal funds since 2023 has reached 64.5 billion won (716,055 shares). As a result, Kwak's personal stake in Hanmi Semiconductor has risen further to 33.59%, solidifying his control.
Hanmi Semiconductor is rapidly expanding its business territory into the aerospace and system semiconductor sectors. On the 12th of this month, the company made a strategic equity investment of 50 billion won in SpaceX. The move targets the "Terra-Fab" project, a massive in-house semiconductor manufacturing facility that Elon Musk is building in Austin, Texas, to address the deepening AI chip shortage at SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI.
Terra-Fab, which involves a total investment of $119 billion (about 180 trillion won), aims to begin operations in 2028. Of the semiconductors produced there, 80% will be supplied to SpaceX's aerospace infrastructure and data centers, while the rest will be installed in Tesla's autonomous driving systems and Optimus humanoid robots. Hanmi Semiconductor has established a roadmap to supply key equipment to this vast supply chain.
The diversification of its equipment portfolio is also progressing smoothly. Hanmi Semiconductor holds a firm No. 1 position globally in thermo-compression (TC) bonders, which are essential for HBM production. It is currently leading the supply of "TC Bonder 4" and "TC Bonder 4.5" for mass production of HBM4 (sixth generation). At the end of this year, the company plans to launch a second-generation hybrid bonder prototype. It is developing a next-generation "Wide TC Bonder," targeting a launch in the first half of next year.
In addition, the company has begun supplying its "EMI Shield 2.0 X" series, an electromagnetic shielding device for aerospace use launched earlier this year, to global aerospace companies. In the system semiconductor sector, it plans to supply "2.5D TC Bonder 40" and "2.5D TC Bonder 120," which are 2.5D packaging equipment for AI chips, to global foundry and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) companies this year.
Meanwhile, Hanmi Semiconductor will establish a local subsidiary, "Hanmi USA," in San Jose, California, at the end of this year to enable close on-the-ground response, marking a full-scale entry into the North American market.
"This additional treasury share purchase by the major shareholder is an expression of confidence in steep future growth, including achieving the Terra-Fab supply goal," a Hanmi Semiconductor official said. "We will further strengthen our global technology leadership in the AI chip value chain and the advanced packaging market."
