Fair Trade Commission Designates Kolmar Korea As Large Business Group on April 29
Founded by Yoon Dong-han in 1990 with Four Employees, Group Surpasses KRW 5 Trillion in Assets
Yoon Dong-han, founder and Chairman of Kolmar Korea
Kolmar Group has become the first company in the cosmetics original development manufacturing (ODM) industry to be designated by the Fair Trade Commission as a Large Business Group subject to disclosure, joining the ranks of large business groups for the first time. The milestone comes 36 years after Chairman Yoon Dong-han, the group’s founder, started the business in 1990 with four employees.
It is significant in that the challenge undertaken by a first-generation founder, who pioneered South Korea’s cosmetics industry with a new business model centered on research and development-driven manufacturing, has now led to inclusion in a large business group. In particular, amid the global expansion of K-beauty, the first-time inclusion of an R&D-based manufacturing company that has supported that growth is being seen as a symbolic moment reflecting both the rising status of the beauty industry and broader structural change.
Kolmar Group said its total assets exceeded KRW 5 trillion ($3.66 billion) and that it was newly designated as a large business group by the Fair Trade Commission on April 29 under the group name Kolmar Korea. According to the electronic disclosure system, the group’s total assets stood at KRW 5,242.8 billion ($3.84 billion) as of the end of last year. By company, Kolmar Korea accounted for KRW 1,529.0 billion ($1.12 billion), HK inno.N KRW 2,096.9 billion ($1.54 billion), Kolmar Holdings KRW 546.1 billion ($400 million), and Kolmar BNH KRW 520.6 billion ($381 million).
The latest designation as a large business group is the result of the business foundation and strategy accumulated by Chairman Yoon Dong-han since the company’s early years. In the 1990s, when the concept of ODM had yet to take root in the cosmetics industry, Yoon laid the groundwork for the business by presenting a direction for a manufacturing company focused on research and development.
The group later expanded into pharmaceuticals and health functional foods, growing a single ODM company into a group spanning beauty and healthcare. Built on the founder’s blueprint, Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun, who now leads the group, accelerated top-line growth through business diversification and global expansion. The assessment is that the foundation created by the founding generation, combined with the execution power of the second-generation management system, has led to the group’s entry into the ranks of large corporations.
A key growth driver for the group has been a three-pronged structure spanning cosmetics, pharmaceutical bio, and health functional foods. Kolmar Korea posted record-high annual results last year, with consolidated sales of KRW 2,722.4 billion ($1.99 billion) and operating profit of KRW 239.6 billion ($176 million), achieving double-digit growth from a year earlier.
HK inno.N, backed by strong performance from K-CAB (tegoprazan), South Korea’s 30th new drug, and its IV solutions business, recorded sales of KRW 1,063.1 billion ($779 million), firmly entering the “KRW 1 trillion club.” Kolmar BNH, the group’s health functional food ODM affiliate, also posted consolidated sales of KRW 574.9 billion ($421 million) and is pursuing a transition into a life sciences company. As each of the three business pillars continues on its own growth trajectory, the group is strengthening its foundation as a “global beauty healthcare platform.”
The designation is especially meaningful as the first of its kind for the cosmetics ODM industry. Kolmar Korea, which first introduced the ODM business model in South Korea, has now also become the first case of a company built on that structure rising into the ranks of large business groups. In particular, the fact that it surpassed KRW 5 trillion ($3.66 billion) in assets under a profit structure centered not on consumer retail prices but on relatively lower manufacturing supply prices is being viewed as proof of the growth potential and industrial value of technology-based cosmetics manufacturers.
On the back of the designation, Kolmar Group also plans to further strengthen its governance system. The group said it will faithfully fulfill its disclosure obligations and expand responsible management by building a transparent decision-making system commensurate with its large-scale assets. At the same time, it plans to advance the global competitiveness of each business division, solidify the foundation for sustainable growth, and further strengthen its standing as a “global beauty healthcare platform.”
A Kolmar Holdings official said, “This is the fruit achieved by adding strategic expansion and execution by the second-generation management system on top of the industrial foundation built by the founder,” adding, “Based on responsible management and transparent governance commensurate with our expanded scale, we will further strengthen our global competitiveness, and through AI-based research and development and production innovation, we will simultaneously raise growth and profitability across the overall business portfolio and continue enhancing corporate value.”
Choi Mun-hee
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