이 기사는 2021년 04월 02일 08:05 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Activist fund KCGI, Bando Construction and Cho Hyun-ah, the elder sister of Hanjin Group chairman Cho Won-tae, will likely discontinue their partnership as their attempt to gain control of Hanjin KAL, the conglomerate’s holding company, ended in failure.

The three-way alliance is in discussions about whether to continue the partnership as their agreement to jointly hold shares in Hanjin KAL expired last month, industry sources said.

KCGI, Bando and Cho Hyun-ah struck the agreement in January last year, just about two months before Hanjin KAL’s shareholders meeting, to wage a battle against Cho Won-tae over control of the company. The three allies together own a 40.39% stake in Hanjin KAL at the end of 2020, with each holding 17.45%, 17.15% and 5.79%.

They have been increasing their stake in the company for the past year, and also acted together in November to stop Hanjin KAL from issuing new shares to Korea Development Bank (KDB), though unsuccessfully, as part of steps to fund its acquisition of Asiana Airlines through Korean Air.

However, they now have no reason to continue the partnership because their common goal of gaining control of Hanjin KAL is no longer viable after KDB recently became the second largest shareholder in the company, industry watchers said.

“The battle between the three-way coalition and chairman Cho Won-tae apparently ended, meaning the three parties have no reason to extend the agreement,” an industry insider said. “They will likely to choose to go separate ways.”

KCGI’s ultimate goal is to deliver high returns on investment but Hanjin KAL shares are down nearly 48% from a high in April 2020. Bando Construction, which reportedly had strong interest in real estate assets owned by Hanjin Group, may want to pull out because the conglomerate has unloaded much of its real estate in the past months to secure liquidity.

Cho Hyun-ah, who is reportedly in financial trouble, also may not want to extend the agreement because under the agreement the three parties cannot sell their shares to a third party other than each other. She has had no regular income since she stepped down as vice-president of Korean Air in 2014 due to the “nut rage” incident. To pay inheritance tax and other expenses, she recently sold 55,000 Hanjin KAL shares worth 3.4 billion won ($3 million) to KCGI.

KCGI, which ultimately needs to exit from the company to return capital to investors, may feel increasingly uncomfortable with the agreement, industry watchers said.

“Discussions are underway and no decision has been made yet,” a source close to the alliance said. (Reporting by Su-jin Yoo)