LX Pantos, a South Korean logistics and freight forwarding firm, has acquired a 3.83% stake in Hanjin KAL, the Hanjin Group holding company that majority-controls Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon).

LX Pantos is an affiliate of LX Holdings, which was established in May 2021 by taking four non-electronics companies from South Korean conglomerate LG Corp. It said in a regulatory filing on August 29 that it had gained the Hanjin KAL shareholding by buying 2.56 million shares for KRW160 billion won (USD119 million) from Bando Group, a rubber product manufacturer.

LX Pantos’s stated aim is to enhance its air cargo logistics interests. However, it has also been seen as the latest step in a steady stabilisation in control over the chaebol, as LX Group is considered to be an ally of Hanjin Group chairman and CEO Walter Cho (Cho Won-tae), who is also chairman and chief executive of Korean Air.

Insiders told the Korea Economic Daily that the move could be interpreted as LX Pantos putting its heft behind Cho in a longstanding family feud over management rights. The feud had gathered steam during 2020 as activist hedge fund Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI), Bando Group, and Hanjin heiress Cho Hyun-ah - Walter Cho’s sister - tried to build enough shares in Hanjin KAL to dethrone the chairman.

The turmoil had already subsided by November 2021, when the KCGI said it would cooperate with state-owned policy bank the Korea Development Bank (KDB), by then a major Hanjin KAL shareholder, in relation to the planned integration of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines (OZ, Seoul Incheon).

Including the latest stake sale, Bando has now disposed of most of its earlier 17.02% stake in the chaebol, while the KCGI sold its 9.4 million shares (13.97%) in Hanjin KAL to residential builder Hoban Construction in late March, leaving it with just a 0.9% stake. Cho Hyun-ah’s stake in Hanjin currently accounts for only 2.06% of the total.