Hanmi Science (008930) shares worth 10 billion won held by Vice Chairman Lim Ju-hyun have been provisionally seized. The dispute within the "four-party alliance," formed by Lim, her mother Song Young-sook, chairman of Hanmi Science, and Ladefanse Partners (Ladefanse) with Shin Dong-kuk, chairman of Hanyang Precision, appears to be spreading.
According to industry sources on the 6th, the court recently granted a provisional seizure request for 10 billion won worth of shares filed by Chairman Shin against Vice Chairman Lim. Shin's argument that Lim violated the obligation to jointly exercise voting rights, set at the time the four-party alliance was formed, was accepted. Shin requested the preservation of 10 billion won out of 20 billion won in penalty claims arising from Lim's breach of the shareholders' agreement.
Earlier, Shin formed the four-party alliance with Song, Lim, and Ladefanse by signing shareholders' agreements in November 2024 and January 2025. The four-party alliance agreed to jointly compose the board of directors and exercise voting rights, and to grant preemptive purchase rights and tag-along rights to the other contracting parties when disposing of shares.
However, Shin's side argues that Lim violated the promise under the four-party agreement by conducting a repurchase agreement transaction with Equity First Fund regarding 2.7% of the 9.15% Hanmi Science stake held by Lim. According to the agreement, Lim was supposed to exercise voting rights of 9.15% at last year's and this year's regular shareholders' meetings, but was unable to exercise voting rights corresponding to 2.7%.
This carries strong characteristics of a countermove to the provisional seizure by the Hanmi Pharmaceutical (128940) mother-daughter family. Song, Lim, and Ladefanse filed a 60 billion won penalty claim lawsuit against Shin last July. They argued that Shin violated the joint voting rights agreement by changing his position after agreeing to pursue the senior care business in Banpo-dong, Seoul. A total of 22 billion won in provisional seizures related to Shin's 12 billion won worth of Hanmi Science shares and his Hannam The Hill apartment, filed to preserve the 60 billion won penalty claim, has been granted.
Currently, the stake battle between the Hanmi Pharmaceutical owner family and Chairman Shin is reigniting. Recently, as Lim Jong-hoon, the second son of the Hanmi Pharmaceutical family and CEO of Hanmi Fine Chemical, joined the mother-daughter side, the owner family's Hanmi Science stake increased to a total of 41%. However, Shin's side believes that because Equity First purchased stakes from Vice Chairman Lim (2.7%), CEO Lim Jong-hoon (3.44%), and Chairman Song (0.46%), the owner family's actual voting rights amount to only 34.4%. The Hanmi Science stake jointly held by Shin and Hanyang Precision stands at about 35%.
