[IT비즈뉴스 박인환 기자] The prosecution began an investigation after seizing the situation of manipulating stock prices in which the Ildong Pharm owner family was involved.
According to the pharmaceutical industry on the 11th, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office of Financial Investigation Division 1 (Director Prosecutor Hyun-cheol Moon) seized and searched Ildong Holdings and Ildong Pharmaceutical headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul last week to secure data on the division of Ildong Pharmaceutical and changes in stock holdings.
Prior to this seizure search, the prosecution is reported to be investigating whether there has been any market manipulation such as intentional stock price stimulus to secure management rights of the owner’s family in the process of dividing Ildong Pharmaceutical’s human and physical properties for conversion into a holding company in 2016-2017.
In order to stabilize management rights, Ildong Pharmaceutical conducted a division of the company to convert into a holding company in 2016. At that time, the corporate structure was reorganized so that the investment business was undertaken by Ildong Holdings, a holding company, and the pharmaceutical business was undertaken by Ildong Pharmaceutical.
Since then, Ildong Holdings has also initiated a public purchase by swapping Ildong Pharmaceutical’s stock with Ildong Holdings’ stock in order to meet the requirements for a holding company (maintaining a stake of at least 20%, a listed subsidiary).
However, there were suspicions that Ildong Pharmaceutical’s stock price was deliberately adjusted to exceed the tender offer price in order to prevent this from being concerned that if ordinary investors participated in the tender offer, the owner’s family’s stake in Ildong Holdings could be lowered.
In fact, through a tender offer at the time, Ildong Holdings secured a stake in Ildong Pharmaceutical that satisfies the requirements of the holding company, and the owner’s family’s ownership of Ildong Holdings increased from the 20% range to the 40% range.
Currently, Ildong Pharmaceutical Group is in a form where CMJ controls Ildong Holdings, and Ildong Holdings controls Ildong Pharmaceutical. CEO Yoon Woong-seop (90%) and his father, Chairman Yoon Won-young (10%), own 100% of CMJC.