Hyundai Group Chairwoman compensates Hyundai Elevator through $154 mn loan

Hyundai Elevator Co. headquarters and Hyundai Group’s Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun [Courtesy of Hyundai]

Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun has recently obtained a large loan of around 200 billion won ($154 million) from M Capital Co. to repay outstanding debts and compensation to Hyundai Elevator Co.

According to multiple sources from the investment bank industry on Thursday, Hyun mobilized the short-term bridge loan using her stake in Hyundai Elevator as collateral.

The compensation came after South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that Hyun should pay 170 billion won in damages to Hyundai Elevator, a unit of the Hyundai Group.

Schindler Holdings AG, a Swiss multinational elevator company, was one of the parties involved in the lawsuit, where it claimed Hyundai Group’s responsibility for causing hundreds of billions of won in losses to Hyundai Elevator due to derivative contracts signed by Hyun.

Schindler holds a 15.5 percent stake in Hyundai Elevator.

In a statement on Thursday, Hyundai Elevator said that it has recovered the full amount of the award, including 170 billion won in compensation and delayed interest, from Hyun.

She fully settled the 200 billion won liability by using an advance cash of 100 billion won already paid in 2019, as well as 24.75 million shares of Hyundai Movex worth about 86.3 billion won in kind.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Elevator issued corporate bonds worth 120 billion won on April 12, marking the first time in three years for the company to issue public bonds.

Hyundai Elevator said it will make further efforts to improve quality and service, strengthen safety, and expand overseas markets to realize its vision of achieving 5 trillion won in revenue and becoming a top 5 global player by 2030.