Namyang Dairy signs conditional deal to sell controlling stake to Dayou Winia
Namyang Dairy Product Chairman Hong Won-sik listens to questions from the National Assembly State Affairs Committee during an audit held in Seoul, Oct. 5. Korea Times file
South Korea's No. 2 dairy company, Namyang Dairy Products Co., said Friday that its controlling shareholders ― Chairman Hong Won-sik and his family ― have signed a deal to sell their majority stake and management rights to the mid-sized local Dayou Winia Group.
Namyang said the sale will go ahead only if it wins a legal dispute with local private equity fund (PEF) Hahn & Company. But if Hahn & Company wins the dispute, Namyang will have to sell its majority stake to the PEF.
Details of the prices of the major stake sale and the date to finalize the deal were not available, Namyang said.
In late May, Hong and his family struck a deal with Hahn & Company to sell a 53 percent stake in Namyang Dairy Products for 310.7 billion won ($262.1 million).
The largest shareholders of the dairy firm did not conclude the deal July 30, delaying a shareholders meeting that was set to approve it.
In August, Hahn & Company filed a lawsuit against Namyang Dairy Products calling for it to honor the contract.
In response to the lawsuit, Hong and his family informed Hahn & Company they would not comply with the deal, Sept. 1. (Yonhap)