이 기사는 2021년 12월 29일 08시14분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Koo Hyung-mo, the son of LX Holdings chairman Koo Bon-joon, has become the second largest shareholder of the holding company after his father gifted part of his stake to his children, a move seen as part of the succession plan of the South Korean family-controlled conglomerate.

Koo Bon-joon gifted 8.5 million and 6.5 million shares in LX Holdings to his son Koo Hyung-mo, the holding company’s vice president, and his daughter Koo Yeon-je, the company said on Monday in a regulatory filing.

The gift reduced the chairman’s stake in the company from 40.04% to 20.37% while increasing his son's and daughter's stakes to 11.75% and 8.78%, respectively, from previous 0.60% and 0.26%.

The move, which came earlier than expected, appears to have aimed to capitalize on the declining stock price of LX Holdings, industry watchers said. Shares in the company recently fell to nearly 10,000 won ($8.43) apiece from a high of 12,000 won at the end of May.

LX Group, which was spun off from South Korea’s LG Group in May, is stepping up efforts to scale up operations and grow both organically and inorganically. LX Holdings’ subsidiaries like LX International and LX Hausys have been active in the mergers and acquisitions market in recent months.

LX Hausys, which manufactures construction materials, bid for furniture company Hanssem this fall, although its attempt was unsuccessful. LX International, the conglomerate’s trading arm, is currently in exclusive talks with Glenwood Private Equity to acquire a 100% stake in Hankuk Glass Industries, one of the country’s biggest glass producers.

The conglomerate is speeding up the succession process as its spin-off from LG Group was completed and chairman Koo, who was born in 1951, doesn’t have many years before retirement.

The gift, which was completed on December 24, is expected to trigger a tax bill of roughly a combined 75 billion won for the Koo siblings based on the day’s close of 10,050 won and the country’s highest gift tax rate of 50%.

Koo Hyung-mo is expected to finance some of his tax bill from cash raised by selling his private company, Jiheung. He sold his 100% stake in the display film manufacturer for 15.3 billion won in December 2018.

Born in 1987, Koo Hyung-mo studied economics at Cornell University in the US. He spent seven years from 2014 working at LG Electronics, before being appointed as vice president of LX Holdings which was launched in May this year. (Reporting by Eun-a Jo)