CJ Group resumes active investment to expand at home and abroad

By Park Sae-jin Posted : June 12, 2017, 18:24 Updated : June 12, 2017, 18:24

[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@ajunews.com]


CJ Cheiljedang, a key subsidiary of South Korea's food and entertainment conglomerate, CJ Group, will resume its aggressive business expansion under chairman Lee Jay-hyun who came back to his office last month after four years of absence.

Cheiljedang, a major food and food service company, earmarked some 900 billion won (799 million US dollars) in building a new plant at home and acquiring Selecta, a Brazilian company that manufactures soy protein concentrate.

Some 540 billion won will be spent on building South Korea's largest processed food production facility capable of producing 120,000 tons of products annually in the southern city of Jincheon by 2020. The company will use 360 billion won to buy Selecta, a major producer of sustainable vegetable proteins.

The conglomerate groups subsidiaries specializing in food, food service, pharmaceutics, biotechnology, entertainment, media, home shopping and logistics. CheilJedang, the world's largest producer of lysine, an amino acid used as additives for animal feed and food additives, has built an overseas network of animal feed plants in China and Southeast Asian countries.

The group used to expand through aggressive mergers and acquisitions before Lee was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 on conviction of embezzlement, tax evasion and breach of trust. The sentence was reduced to 30 months in December 2015 and Lee was granted a presidential pardon last August.

Top officials of South Korea's family-run business conglomerates, or "chaebol", which dominate the national economy, have made regular court appearances on fraud charges over the years. Some have received heavy jail terms, only for them to be pardoned or released on early parole in light of their "past contributions" and importance to future economic prosperity.

Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com

 
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