The merger sought between Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group and OCI Group is “unfair,” according to Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. President Lim Jong-yoon, who called for financial authorities to supervise and monitor the move.

Lim voiced his opposition to the two groups‘ proposed merger during a press conference in Seoul on Thursday. He argued that proponents of the Hanmi-OCI merger failed to submit the necessary materials for the court’s review as part of the injunction proceedings, which serves as evidence that the attempted merger is unfair.

Lim, along with his younger brother Lim Jong-hoon, who represents Hanmi Fine Chemical Co., filed a suit seeking an injunction against the issuance of new shares of Hanmi Science Co., the holding company of Hanmi Group, after Hanmi Science announced its intention to merge with OCI Group in January 2024.

The Hanmi Pharma president further argued that the merger should be reviewed as a whole, rather than focusing solely on individual transactions or paid-in capital increases, citing the absence of contracts and data to support its legitimacy. Lim Jong-hoon also joined the press conference in support of his brother. The Lim brothers are the eldest and second sons of the late Chairman Lim Sung-ki, who founded the Hanmi Pharmaceutical group.

As conflict brews within the group regarding the merger, a regular shareholders’ meeting is scheduled for March 28th, 2024. The Lim brothers’ proposal for the appointment of five new directors and Hanmi Science‘s proposal for the appointment of six new directors during this meeting will be up for voting during this meeting.

The Hanmi Pharma president further urged the National Pension Service (NPS), a major shareholder of Hanmi Science holding a 7.38 percent stake, to actively engage in overseeing the merger, including the exercise of stewardship codes, while unveiling their ambitious goals of achieving net profits of 1 trillion won and a market capitalization of around 50 trillion won for the group within five years, once the legal battles over management issues are settled in favor of the brothers.

“We will work towards Hanmi group’s growth via multi-product, small-scale bio-pharmaceutical development, and develop it into a contract development organization (CDO) as well as a contract research organization (CRO),” the elder Lim said.

By Kang Min-ho and Chang Iou-chung

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