Lim Jae-taek, chief executive officer (CEO) of South Korea’s Hanyang Securities Co., shared personal reflections ahead of the company’s upcoming sale.

According to Hanyang Securities on Monday, Lim held an event to talk about his recently published book, “Don’t Dream of Success, Steal It,” at a bookstore in Gangnam, southern Seoul, on Thursday.

Lim noted that the sale of the company, where he has been at the helm since 2018, brings feelings of “sending off my own child.”

He also compared Hanyang Securities’ growth over the past seven years to how corn kernels pop.

“Just as corn kernels near the heating plate pop first, a change in one person can ripple through the organization and eventually move the whole,” Lim said.

He noted that he had to take the initiative himself in order to break the limits of a stagnant organization and that his sincerity helped persuade the rest of the team.

Hanyang Securities has shown steep growth since Lim’s appointment in 2018, with its operating profit increasing more than tenfold.

Hanyang Foundation, the parent organization, officially initiated the sale of Hanyang Securities in September 2024 by signing a stock purchase agreement (SPA) with local private equity firm KCGI Co.

KCGI applied to the financial authorities for a major shareholder eligibility review in January - a de facto final step in the acquisition process, but the eligibility review was temporarily suspended in March when the National Tax Service launched a tax investigation into KCGI.

While there were industry concerns that the deal might fall through, it has recently been reported that the tax probe concluded without major issues, and the financial authorities have resumed the eligibility review.

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