[ANALYSIS] Chung siblings take different steps in boosting Shinsegae's businesses

 

Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin, left, and President of Shinsegae Department Store Chung Yoo-kyung / Yonhap
Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin, left, and President of Shinsegae Department Store Chung Yoo-kyung / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

Two powerful siblings ― Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin and Shinsegae Department Store President Chung Yoo-kyung ― are having one of the busiest times of their lives.

The two Chungs are each taking risks to boost their businesses, but they show different characteristics in making these risks work.

The older brother is more fearless than his sister. The vice chairman has invested over 4.31 trillion won ($3.76 billion) in acquiring companies in various sectors, from a sports team, to an e-commerce firm and an online fashion mall. The investment is nearly six times his company's annual operating profit

In addition, he Bóng độ obtained additional shares in Starbucks Korea, which was established jointly and previously divided into a 50/50 split between Shinsegae and Starbucks International.

Chung Yong-jin is leading the company into new frontiers and taking an aggressive stance to develop businesses in almost all the areas that are in close contact with customers. This effort reflects the vice president's ultimate goal in forming a "Shinsegae Universe," where customers can enjoy everything from watching baseball games to going shopping and staying at hotels owned by the retail giant.

Chung himself said during his New Year's address that the retailer's rivals are theme parks from now on. He is currently building a global amusement park in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, that benchamrks Disneyland and is scheduled to open by 2031.

The second half of this year will be a busy time for the vice chairman as he plans to make more investments in hiring talented workers in the information technology sector and beefing up the logistics segment for the online retail business.

However, his sister, President Chung Yoo-kyung, is taking a more cautious stance than her brother.

Shinsegae decided to withdraw its acquisition bid plan for Hugel, the country's No. 1 medical botulinum toxin (Botox) maker. Chung Yoo-kyung saw that there would be little synergy created between Hugel and her fashion and beauty businesses. Shinsegae had been reviewing the possibility of taking over 44 percent of Hugel's shares owned by Bain Capital.

Before the withdrawal decision came, many thought that there would be no other attractive investment for the president than Hugel, as the cosmetics business is one of her main interests. Hugel is the only local firm that exports Botox and the fillers it produces. Acquiring the No. 1 Botox maker meant possible production of beauty items using botulinum toxin.

However, President Chung Yoo-kyung concluded that 2 trillion won would not pay off in securing new power for expanding her cosmetics business.

"Regarding the trillions of won spent to acquire eBay Korea, Vice Chairman Chung made a bold decision, despite public concern that he might be involved in a 'curse of the winner.' Meanwhile, President Chung decided against the Hugel takeover, thinking that the synergy with her department store business would be minimal. The siblings have different ways of doing their businesses and only the outcome will tell," an industry source said.


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