Sale of Namyang Dairy Products Co. Cancelled

The sale of Namyang Dairy Products Company has fallen through, according to a statement from the firm’s chairperson. 

Chairman Hong Won-sik said Wednesday that he informed private equity firm Hahn & Company that his company was scrapping a contract they had clinched on the sale of the dairy giant. 

The statement comes three months after Hong and his family signed a contract agreeing to sell their controlling stake of 53 percent to Hahn & Company for 310 billion won. 

Hong said he inevitably gave the notice after the buyer failed to implement agreements reached ahead of the signing. He claimed the private equity firm violated confidentiality clauses for its own gain, adding that it wrongfully intervened in the management of Namyang even before signing the sales deal.

He said he pursued the sale even though the contract with Hahn & Company was more profitable for the private equity firm because he sought to pursue the greater cause of normalizing Namyang’s operations. 

Hong had tearfully announced Namyang's sale after the company came under fire for claiming a yogurt product is effective in suppressing COVID-19.

Hahn & Company had filed a lawsuit against Namyang's shareholders in late August for failing to honor a binding contract.