Kolmar Group vice chairman tapped as Kolmar Holdings CEO

Kolmar Group Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun

Kolmar Group Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun has been appointed as chief executive officer of Kolmar Holdings Co., the South Korean global cosmetics original design manufacturer (ODM)’s holding firm.

Kolmar Holdings said on Thursday that Yoon was appointed as its new CEO during a board meeting held on the same day. Yoon‘s appointment came after former CEO Ahn Byung-joon resigned due to personal reasons. Yoon has already been leading the group’s management as vice chairman without the official CEO title but will head the entire group with this appointment.

Yoon is the eldest son of Kolmar Holdings founder and chairman Yoon Dong-han. He joined Kolmar Korea Co. as a senior executive in 2009 and has since received formal management training, becoming vice president of Kolmar Korea in 2011, president in 2017, and vice chairman in 2019.

The younger Yoon has aggressively pursued mergers and acquisitions (M&A) since joining the company, earning him the industry nickname “deal maker.” He acquired CJ Group’s pharmaceutical subsidiary CJ HealthCare Corp. for 1.31 trillion won ($959.22 million), changed its name to HK inno.N Corp., and successfully completed an initial public offering (IPO) in 2021. He also acquired organoid specialist NEXT&BIO Inc. in the same year.

“As a group, we will focus on expanding into the global market and actively respond to rapidly changing domestic and international market conditions,” Yoon said.

Kolmar Holdings changed its name from Kolmar Korea Holdings to Kolmar Holdings in April 2024 with the goal of expanding into the global market. It secured 100 percent ownership of the global trademark “Kolmar” from the original U.S.-based company Kolmar in 2022, ensuring exclusive rights to the brand.

Kolmar Korea has been actively trying to tap the North American market, opening a North American technology sales center in New Jersey, the United States, in 2023 and building a second factory in the country a year later. Kolmar Global, which oversees the group’s overseas business, is actively seeking to expand into the Southeast Asian market by forming subsidiaries in Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore.

Kolmar Korea also plans to continue to expand its efforts to enhance shareholder value. Kolmar Holdings has been implementing a “three-year shareholder return policy” since 2023, which includes measures such as bonus share issues, share buybacks and retirements, and increased cash dividends to promote shareholder-friendly policies.

“With Yoon’s appointment as CEO, we expect an increased momentum in our key businesses as he has directed our group’s major M&As and global expansion,” a Kolmar Holdings official said.