Hankook has entered the top 30 of Korea's largest conglomerates

Hankook & Company, the parent holding company of tire manufacturer Hankook  Tire & Technology, has completed the acquisition of Seoul-based Hanon Systems, a manufacturer of automotive thermal management systems, and has become one of the 30 largest Korean conglomerates, known as chaebols.

Thanks to the purchase of Hanon, the total value of Hankook's assets has grown to $18.4 billion, and as of May last year, the company, according to the Korean Fair Trade Commission, ranked 49th in the list of the largest chaebols.

Hankook acquired Hanon shares worth $1.2 billion, increasing its stake in the company to 54.77%. The new transaction was carried out 10 years after Hankook first became a shareholder of Hanon.

"With this major deal, we have completed the creation of our own range in the field of mobility, which includes tires, batteries and thermal management systems, and have continued our development as a global high-tech company," Hankook said.

Hanon Systems was founded in 1986 as an autoparts manufacturer and in 2015 began producing thermal management systems for electric vehicles. The company's client list now includes such automotive giants as Hyundai, Ford and General  Motors.

As Hyundai and Kia expand electric vehicle production in North America, Hanon has decided to build new plants in Tennessee and Georgia, in addition to industrial complexes in Alabama, Michigan and Ohio. The plant in Georgia is located 56 km from Hyundai's recently opened electric vehicle plant in Bryan County.

As part of the deal, Hankook & Co.'s vice chairman and former CEO and president of Hankook  Tire, Lee Soo Il, took over as CEO of Hanon. He also headed the task force that will be responsible for integrating the new business after the merger of the two companies.

Lee has extensive experience working in various regions of the world and has held a number of leadership positions, including head of Hankook branches in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), France, the USA and China, as well as marketing director. After Lee's appointment as CEO of Hanon, the company agreed to change the existing management system, introduced in 2015.