이 기사는 2021년 06월 02일 07시29분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Some of Namyang Dairy Products' stake held by the owner's family members was not included in Hahn & Co’s latest acquisition of the company, drawing attention to the reason for the exclusion.

Namyang recently announced that it will sell around 53% of the dairy product maker including 51.68% owned by the company’s ex-chairman Hong Won-sik, 0.89% owned by Hong’s wife and 0.06% owned by his grandson to the Seoul-based private equity firm for approximately 310.7 billion won ($278 million).

It is notable that Hong’s younger brother Myeong-sik will remain a minority shareholder with a 0.45% stake. Myeong-sik is the only one who hasn’t participated in the deal among the three people who are related to former chairman Hong.

This led to speculation that the Hong family might want to repurchase the company from the private equity firm sometime in the future.

However, most industry sources are skeptical about that possibility because the deal did not provide the seller with options such as a call option and a right of first refusal. “The Namyang deal has to be seen as a cash-out by the owner, giving up his management rights amid deteriorating fundamentals due to worsening public opinion and a crippling consumer boycott,” an industry source said.

It is said that the stake owned by Myeong-sik has not been included in the deal from the beginning. Hahn & Co has excluded his stake from the acquisition, probably because it was too small to affect its control of the company.

“Myeong-sik hasn’t participated in the management of Namyang at all, it appears he would hold the company's stake for the longest time among his brothers,” said a second industry source. (Reporting by Byung-yoon Kim)