New Doosan Group chairman Park Jeong-won
South Korea's Doosan Group specializing in consumer goods, manufacturing, trading and construction, became the first family-run conglomerate Wednesday to complete a hereditary fourth-generation succession.
Park Jeong-won, chairman of the group's de facto holding firm Doosan Corp, was designated as the group's new chairman. He is the eldest son of former group chairman Park Yong-kon.
Outgoing group chairman Park Yong-maan announced his decision to transfer the helm to his 54-year-old nephew, Jeong-won, saying the group has "completed preparations for a turnaround amid a global economic slump".
Park Yong-maan had successfully transformed the group to overcome the 1997 Asian financial crisis through radical restructuring.
The succession comes as the group's key affiliates such as construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore and power equipment maker Doosan Heavy Industries are in financial trouble.
The group, which started as a small shop in 1896, has developed into a multinational conglomerate through mergers and acquisitions. It acquired Doosan Heavy in 2001 and Doosan Infracore in 2005.
But in a recent move to improve its liquidity position, Doosan Infracore has said it would float Doosan Bobcat within this year.
Doosan Infracore holds a 75.5 percent stake in Doosan Bobcat, which controls US machinery maker Bobcat. It has decided to spin off its machine tools business as debts kept increasing amid a protracted construction market slump in China.
The company reported a combined net loss of 246.5 billion won (202 million US dollars) between January and September last year while its debt-equity ratio has surged 230 percent. It laid off more than 1,500 employees last year.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
