hynix Semiconductor Inc.,announced today that the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has approved its disaffiliation from the Hyundai Group, effective as of August 1, 2001.
The FTC’s approval coincides with its July 24, 2001 revision of the Fair Trade Act. The revision allows companies to disaffiliate prior to an actual sale of shares by affiliated shareholders, as long as those shareholders have surrendered their managerial and voting rights over the shares.
On May 21, 2001, hynix’s former affiliated shareholders, including Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. (9.25%); Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. (7.01%); and former Hyundai Group chairman Chung Mong-hun (1.7%), placed their total shareholdings (93,805,920 shares) in a custodial account administered by the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB). In addition, the affiliated shareholders surrendered their managerial and voting rights to the KEB, relinquishing their control over hynix.
The former shareholders have appointed KEB as a proxy for selling the surrendered shares. In furtherance of its separation from the Hyundai Group, on July 26, 2001, hynix renounced its managerial and voting rights over its stake (88,931,761 shares) in Hyundai Investment Trust & Securities Co. (HITS). hynix has also commissioned the KEB to dispose of its shares through sale. HITS will remain as a Hyundai Group affiliate. hynix’s disaffiliation from the Hyundai Group is the culmination of its corporate restructuring program promised earlier this year. hynix will continue to implement its “shareholder management system” in order to give top priority to its shareholders’ interests.
