Catering firm Ourhome CEO wins 1st round in sibling feud

South Korea’s catering firm Ourhome Ltd. has wrapped up the first round of its sibling dispute after its shareholders on Tuesday voted in favor of current management.

At an annual general meeting (AGM), its Chief Executive and Vice Chairwoman Koo Ji-eun got the nod for her proposed dividend payment of 3 billion won ($2.3 million) for 2022.

The amount is one-hundredths of the 299.6 billion won demanded by her older brother and former CEO Koo Bon-sung. The figure is more than 11 times Ourhome’s net profit of 25.5 billion won in 2022.

The incumbent CEO is the youngest member of the founding family. She has been in conflict with the former CEO since she took the helm of Ourhome in 2021.

Their dispute, involving two other sisters, arose after the ex-CEO sought to sell all shares held by the four family members and to shift toward a professional management system. The proposed share sale has been put on hold.

The former CEO led the catering unit from 2016 until he stepped down in 2021 after he was sentenced to a two-year suspended jail term due to driving misconduct.   

Shortly before the AGM started, he dropped his demand for the enormous dividend payout for unknown reasons.

“The two elder sisters’ support for the youngest tilted the balance in her favor,” said a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

One of the older sisters Koo Mi-hyun, who supported the ex-CEO’s share sale plan last year, withdrew her request for 45.6 billion won in dividends prior to the AGM as well.

The former CEO is the largest shareholder of Ourhome with a 38.56% stake, followed by the current CEO, his youngest sister, with a 20.67% stake.

Their two other sisters hold a combined 39.66%.

Including CEO Koo, the three sisters are obliged to jointly exercise their voting rights over a possible share sale until June of next year.

After such an agreement expires, the four siblings could enter a new round of management disputes, investment banking sources said.

Ourhome was launched as a catering unit of LG Group in 1984 and separated from the group after its late Chairman Koo Ja-hak spun off from the conglomerate in 2000.

Write to Soo-Jung Ha at agatha77@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.