This article appeared on the capital-markets compass "Signal" at 23:40 on July 2, 2026.
Lim Jong-hoon, an inside director of Hanmi Science (008930), the holding company of the Hanmipharm (128940) Group, and CEO of Hanmi Fine Chemical, is selling his 2.5% stake to the private equity fund NOW IB. Lim's side said it made the decision to sell in order to side with his mother, Chairwoman Song Young-sook, and his elder sister, Vice Chairwoman Lim Ju-hyun.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system (DART), Lim disclosed on the 2nd that he will sell 1,709,788 shares (a 2.5% stake) to NOW IB in an over-the-counter transaction for about 82 billion won (48,000 won per share). Once the sale is completed, Lim's stake will fall roughly by half, from 5.09% (3.48 million shares) to 2.59% (1.77 million shares). Lim's side said, "Together with my mother and sister, I will play the role needed for the company's development to carry on the founder's spirit of 'serving the nation through pharmaceuticals.'"
Lim's sale is said to be aimed at siding with Chairwoman Song and Vice Chairwoman Lim. Although no shareholder agreement was actually signed as part of the sale, Lim is understood to have made this intention clear to NOW IB. One official in the IB industry said, "I understand Lim decided to sell in order to align with Chairwoman Song and Vice Chairwoman Lim, rather than with Shin Dong-kook, chairman of Hanyang Precision."
Earlier, Shin's side had considered raising about 300 billion won to acquire Lim's entire 5.09% stake, but the deal fell through after Lim declined. Although Lim has now sold part of his stake, the counterparty is a financial investor (FI), not Shin, so the scenario of the stake passing to Shin has not materialized.
While Shin's acquisition of CEO Lim Jong-hoon's stake did not actually occur, the industry is paying attention to the fact that Shin has continued to pursue expanding his stake. In February this year, Shin also purchased a total of 4,410,032 shares of Hanmi Science from six parties, including Coriphohang, for 213.7 billion won. As a result, Chairman Shin Dong-kook's personal stake rose to 22.88%. Adding the 6.95% stake in Hanmi Science held by Hanyang Precision, Shin's own company, Chairman Shin's holdings reach 29.83%, close to 30%.
Despite the increase in his stake, the reason Shin cannot act unilaterally is the shareholder agreement. However, the term of the shareholder agreement, which centers on joint voting rights, is estimated to have about a year remaining. Once the shareholder agreement expires, there is a considerable chance that a management dispute within the Hanmipharm Group will resurface.
The cracks in the shareholder agreement emerged as Shin actively intervened in management, growing distant from Chairwoman Song and Vice Chairwoman Lim. There were also cases in which Shin overturned the company's key investment decisions. The Hanmipharm Group had decided to invest in a development project on the site of the former Sheraton Palace Hotel in Banpo-dong, Seoul. Sim Byung-hwa, the CFO and executive vice president who previously worked at Samsung Biologics, is said to have reviewed the project for about two to three months and submitted it as a board agenda item. The rationale behind the investment decision was to link the project with a senior-care business tied to Catholic St. Mary's Hospital.
The picture the Hanmipharm Group envisioned at the time was a model in which a silver-town business would be developed on the site, linked with medical care at St. Mary's Hospital, and supplied with Hanmipharm's health functional foods and other products. It is a business concept that many pharmaceutical companies are envisioning as a future vision. The Hanmipharm board is said to have resolved to pursue the silver-town business. After months of profitability review, a consensus is said to have formed on the need for the business. It was also reported that the board concluded that the Banpo-dong site investment itself was not bad from a real estate investment standpoint.
Ultimately, the project fell through and became the trigger for a penalty-clause lawsuit currently underway worth about 60 billion won. The suit was filed against Shin by Hanmipharm Group Chairwoman Song Young-sook, Vice Chairwoman Lim Ju-hyun, and Ladefense Partners.
