Hanjin Shipping transforms into a Holding Company

Hanjin Shipping has announced that an agreement was reached at the Board of Directors Meeting to separate the company into Hanjin Shipping Holdings Co., Ltd., a holding company and Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd., an operating company.

With this decision, the former Hanjin Shipping will be divided into Hanjin Shipping Holdings focusing on managing the subsidiaries and Hanjin Shipping Co., which maintains full control over the existing shipping business.

While showing continued growth and stabilizing its financial structure through its container shipping and bulk shipping business, Hanjin Shipping has come to understand the need of implementing an advanced corporate governance system which will allow the company to cope with the rapidly changing business environment and secure its future-oriented corporate structure for sustainable growth. The transformation into a holding company will accommodate Hanjin Shipping with the tools necessary to ensure an independent business operation and corporate transparency.   

The transformation into a holding company is also expected to allow its subsidiaries to focus on the core business through an independent/optimized strategy and distribution of its business resources. Moreover, the separation of the investment and corporate governance function from the main shipping business is expected to strengthen risk management capacity.

Hanjin Shipping comments, "The holding company structure will reaffirm the corporate transparency and contribute to stabilizing corporate governance." Also, the company believes that it will bring positive changes to the values of the company as well as of the shareholders.

Hanjin Shipping adds that the improvement of corporate governance will help the company to achieve higher business results and strengthen its core business competency to ultimately prepare for the age of global competition.

Meanwhile, the stocks of Hanjin Shipping Holdings and Hanjin Shipping will be distributed to the shareholders according to the ratio of net asset of each company. The stockholders with 1 share of the former Hanjin Shipping will be given 0.1616362 share of Hanjin Shipping Holdings and 0.8383638 share of new Hanjin Shipping. The face value per share will remain the same. Hanjin Shipping will be opening a temporary shareholders' meeting on forthcoming October 28th  concerning the issue. Also, after the official separation on December 1st, the companies will be re-listed on December 29th.

(Source: Transport Weekly)