Commodities
A Bitter Feud Risks Ripping Apart an $11 Billion Metals Empire
- Korea Zinc schism involves two of country’s richest families
- Company, affiliates control 12% of global zinc output ex-China
This article is for subscribers only.
A spat between two wealthy South Korean families over the future of an $11 billion zinc empire has descended into a bitter battle for control that could hamper efforts to diversify the global supply of energy-transition metals.
The power struggle over Korea Zinc Co. — founded by two friends who fled North Korea, and still held by the Choi and the Chang families — has captured headlines. Even in a country of large conglomerates, where inheritance fights are common, few involve private equity backers stepping into the ring to stand against wealthy establishment names.