The company will acquire Kakao Investment’s Dunamu shares for about 597.8 billion won, raising its stake to 9.84 percent.
The move is seen as an extension of Kim Dong-won’s long-running digital finance strategy.
Kim Dong-won, President of Hanwha Life.
[Insight Korea = Choi Jae-a]
Hanwha Investment & Securities will become the third-largest shareholder of Dunamu after acquiring additional shares held by Kakao Investment. The move is being interpreted as an extension of the digital finance strategy that Hanwha Life President Kim Dong-won has pursued for years.
Hanwha Investment & Securities decided on the 20th to acquire an additional 1,361,050 Dunamu shares held by Kakao Investment for about 597.8 billion won. Once the transaction is completed, Hanwha Investment & Securities’ stake in Dunamu will rise from 5.94 percent to 9.84 percent. The acquisition amount is equivalent to 28.9 percent of Hanwha Investment & Securities’ equity capital.
Hanwha Investment & Securities first acquired a stake in Dunamu in 2021. At the time, the company purchased 2,069,450 Dunamu shares for 58.3 billion won as part of a collaboration around Dunamu’s unlisted stock trading app, Securities Plus Unlisted. That collaboration was regarded as the first business link between the two companies.
The latest additional acquisition is part of Hanwha Investment & Securities’ plan to realize its vision of becoming the “global No. 1 hub for real-world asset tokenization,” or RWA. The company has recently designated RWA and virtual assets as future core businesses and has continued investments and memorandums of understanding with related companies such as digital asset information infrastructure firms Xangle and Crassis.
“This investment is a decision to realize our core vision for mid- to long-term digital transformation,” a Hanwha Investment & Securities official said. “As a major shareholder of Dunamu, which has one of Korea’s strongest Web3 infrastructures, we will secure business synergies by leading the future digital asset market and strengthening our digital finance competitiveness.”
Kim Dong-won’s Digital Finance Strategy
According to the financial investment industry, Kim Dong-won became head of the digital team shortly after joining group management in 2014 and has directly overseen fintech businesses since then. He later served in roles including Hanwha Life’s digital innovation office and future innovation division, leading the digital transformation strategy of the group’s financial affiliates. Hanwha Life’s fintech startup incubation program, Dreamplus, is also a project Kim has led from its early stages.
Under this direction, Hanwha’s financial affiliates have steadily expanded investment in fintech and digital finance since Kim took on a larger role. At a management strategy meeting late last year, Hanwha Investment & Securities formally set a mid- to long-term goal of transforming itself into a securities firm specializing in digital assets. It also strengthened its decision-making structure for digital transformation by appointing Sohn Jong-min, head of the future strategy office who has overseen digital strategy, as an inside director.
Naver Financial Share Swap Raises Questions Over Roles and Regulation
Some market observers are paying attention to the relationship between Mirae Asset Financial Group and Hanwha Investment & Securities. Mirae Asset Financial Group currently holds a 30 percent stake in Naver Financial, making it the second-largest shareholder. If the comprehensive share swap between Dunamu and Naver Financial is completed, concerns may arise over possible role overlap between Mirae Asset Financial Group and Hanwha Investment & Securities.
As Naver and Dunamu moved to form their partnership, there had already been speculation that Mirae Asset Financial Group could gain an early position in digital asset issuance, payment and distribution infrastructure. If Hanwha Investment & Securities works with Dunamu, analysts say it could target similar areas, including RWA transaction brokerage, blockchain-based custody, settlement and institutional digital asset services.
“Securities firms are actively looking for future growth engines, and interest in digital assets has long existed,” a Hanwha Investment & Securities official said. “It is difficult to say that our role overlaps with Mirae Asset’s.”
Regulatory uncertainty remains another factor. The scheduled date for the comprehensive share swap between Dunamu and Naver Financial is Sept. 30. The original date of June 30 was delayed by three months because of a delay in the Fair Trade Commission’s business combination review and uncertainty surrounding the Digital Asset Basic Act.
Choi Seung-ho, an analyst at DS Investment & Securities, said in a report that “the delay in digital asset legislation appears to be affecting the merger between Naver Financial and Dunamu.” He added, “The possibility of the merger being canceled is slim, but considering the importance of the legislation, the possibility that the merger date could be pushed back beyond the current schedule cannot be ruled out.”
Hanwha Investment & Securities plans to receive newly issued Naver Financial shares after the share swap and remain as a shareholder. It does not plan to exercise appraisal rights.
“In 2021, we acquired a stake in Dunamu for collaboration with the Securities Plus Unlisted app, and now we are pursuing an additional acquisition to realize our vision related to virtual assets and RWA,” a Hanwha Investment & Securities official said. “This is a preparatory step so that we can begin business immediately once digital asset regulations become clearer.”
- This article was translated by ChatGPT. (이 기사는 챗GPT가 번역했습니다.)
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