이 기사는 2022년 04월 20일 08:02 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s furniture maker Hanssem aims to step up efforts to bolster its overseas business through online home remodeling services after being acquired by IMM Private Equity.

Hanssem recently unveiled its mid-to-long-term business strategy with an aim to reach 4 trillion won ($3.23 billion) in revenue by 2026. To achieve this, the company will pursue five core projects including digital transformation, construction process innovation, customer experience innovation, maximizing operational efficiency and new growth businesses.

The overseas business is mentioned as one of its new growth businesses. Hanssem has produced and sold furniture in the U.S., China and Japan since the 1980s. It established its U.S. subsidiary in the 1980s, followed by Japanese and Chinese subsidiaries in the 1990s.

Last year, Hanssem exited from the U.S. When IMM PE took over the management rights from former Hanssem honorary chairman Cho Chang-geol, the furniture maker handed over the entire stake in its U.S. subsidiary, Hanssem Corporation, to Cho for 45.5 billion won.

Its Japanese entity reported net losses for the second straight year in 2021. It posted revenue of 24.5 billion won and a net loss of 6.1 billion won last year.

Its Chinese business turned profitable last year for the first time since 2015. Hanssem China Investment Holdings, Hanssem’s Chinese holding company, delivered 17.7 billion won in revenue and a net profit of 2.3 billion won in 2021.

Yet, the Chinese holding company’s total assets decreased 10 billion won year-on-year to 51.3 billion won in 2021. Its total liabilities also decreased to 39.3 billion won from 53.2 billion won in the same period.

Hanssem is aiming to make inroads into Southeast Asia alongside the U.S., China and Japan. Based on its successful business model here, the company plans to partner with offline home remodeling companies in the counties for online home remodeling services.

When Hanssem entered the Chinese market in the mid-1990s, it mainly focused on business-to-business (B2B) business. The company later expanded its presence in the home interior market in 2015 by strengthening the business-to-customer (B2C) business, but failed to achieve tangible outcomes.

Hanssem’s online platform Hanssem Mall is considered less competitive than the country’s dominant home remodeling platforms OHouse and Zipdoc. Yet, the company may seek ways to create synergies with OHouse, which has IMM PE as the largest shareholder.

“We aim to enter the online market by joining hands with local offline remodeling companies in the U.S., China, Japan and Southeast Asia,” a Hanssem official said, adding, “We will draw up concrete business strategies down the road.” (Reporting by Hyo-beom Lee)