Hyundai Motor heir apparent jacks up stake in auto giant

Hyundai Motor Co. Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun has purchased around 3.16 million shares in the auto giant for nearly 500 billion won ($419.3 million) on Thursday, industry and company sources said. 

Chung, the son of Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo, bought a total of 3,164,550 shares owned by shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. during after-hour trading, according to the sources. 

He bought the shares for 158,000 won apiece, without a discount off the automaker's closing price on Thursday. The total amount purchased came to 499.99 billion won. 

The stock purchase jacked up the heir apparent's stake in Hyundai Motor to 1.44 percent, they said. 

Hyundai Heavy Industries, headed by Eui-sun's uncle, has sought to unload its holdings in Hyundai Motor as part of efforts to improve its overall financial health. The shipbuilder had owned around 4.4 million shares in the automaker. 

The sources said that the Hyundai Motor vice chairman has intended to take over the shares up for sale in order to stabilize its managerial control and prevent hurting shareholder value in case they ended up being acquired by third parties. (Yonhap)