Hyundai Motor Group becomes KT's largest shareholder

Hyundai Motor Group has officially become the largest shareholder of South Korea's major telecommunications company KT Corp., following a public interest review that cleared the way for the transition.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said on Thursday that the review determined the change in ownership would not harm public interests.

Hyundai Motor Group's ascent to the top shareholder position came after the National Pension Service (NPS) sold part of its KT stake in March.

As of June, Hyundai Motor Group held an 8.07% stake in KT, comprising 4.86% by Hyundai Motor Co. and 3.21% by Hyundai Mobis Co.

The ministry emphasized that Hyundai Motor Group's status as the largest shareholder implies no direct management involvement.

The company's passive investment approach and relatively small stake size are insufficient to control KT's operations effectively.

Hyundai Motor Group and KT have collaborated since exchanging treasury shares in September 2022.

The companies have focused on joint projects in advanced vehicle technologies, such as autonomous driving and urban air mobility (UAM).

They are part of the Korea Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) One Team consortium, a national initiative that aims to develop and commercialize electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for urban transportation.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com