According to GS Caltex on the 5th, the FTC’s corporate group bureau conducted a field investigation at GS Caltex’s headquarters in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul from the 16th of last month.
It is believed that the FTC secured internal data on the transaction relationship between GS Caltex and GS ITM, costs and unit prices, and received statements from key executives.
GS ITM was established in 2006 as a company in charge of system integration (SI) for GS group affiliates. The owner’s family, including GS Energy Executive Vice President Heo Seo-hong and GS E&C Vice President, Heo Seo-hong, owned 100% of the stake, and sold 80% of the stake to a private equity fund in December 2018. Currently, it is known that the ownership ratio of the owner’s family is less than 20%.
It is reported that the FTC is investigating whether any internal transactions that took place when GS ITM’s ownership of the owner family was more than 80% had been detrimental.
Companies that are subject to the regulation of driving work are companies with a 30% or more share of the owner’s family (20% for non-listed companies). Former Fair Trade Commissioner Kim Sang-jo emphasized that at the time of his inauguration in June 2017, he would thoroughly monitor the internal transactions of large corporations and the driving of their work. At that time, Hanwha Group, GS Group, etc. were eager to sell affiliates in an effort to relieve the regulation of driving work.
A GS Group official said, “It is true that the FTC investigation is underway against GS ITM. We have sincerely submitted the relevant explanatory data.”
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