 |
(Source = Hanssem) |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] Hanssem is set to receive the payment for the sale of its office building located at 179 Seongam-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, from Gravity Asset Management on September 24th. The decision to sell the building to Gravity General Private Real Estate Investment Corporation No. 8 was finalized at a board meeting on July 30th. The sale price was agreed at 320 billion KRW, an amount that represents about 30% of Hanssem's total assets as of the end of last year.
Hanssem stated that the sale was a strategic move to secure future financial resources and enhance corporate value to support sustainable growth. In its Q2 earnings report, the company outlined its plans for sustainable growth through business efficiency improvements, brand enhancement, strengthened ESG management, and corporate culture re-establishment.
Even after the sale, Hanssem will continue to use the building through a sale-and-leaseback arrangement, where the company will lease the property back from the buyer.
Hanssem originally purchased the office building in 2017 for 148.5 billion KRW, meaning it will now gain more than double the profit from the sale in just seven years.
The sale of Hanssem's headquarters was reportedly led by its current major shareholder, IMM Private Equity (PE). In 2021, IMM PE, together with Lotte Shopping, acquired a 21.1% stake in Hanssem for about 1.5 trillion KRW. At the time, IMM PE paid 220,000 KRW per share, a premium more than double the stock's price of around 100,000 KRW.
However, Hanssem's performance began to decline after the end of the pandemic and the downturn in the real estate market. In 2022, its revenue fell to 2 trillion KRW, and the company recorded an operating loss of 20 billion KRW, its first-ever. While Hanssem managed to return to profitability in 2023, with a new CEO, Kim Yoo-jin of IMM Operations, its revenue further decreased to around 1.9 trillion KRW.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
