After two years of preparation, the Koo's family-run business finally split into two major groups, one headed by 86-year-old Koo Chen-fu (
"The split-up aims to consolidate professional management in the [financial] business," Chinatrust president Jeffrey Koo Jr. (
New blood relatives who do not bear the surname of Koo should be allowed to take up management responsibilities based on their business expertise while the Koo family continues to serve as financers, 38-year-old Jeffrey Koo Jr. added.
Chinatrust yesterday confirmed that Jeffrey Koo relinquished his seat at the board of Taiwan Polypropylene Co (福聚公司) to the Koo's Group on Thursday, facilitating the split-up agreement reached two years ago by both clans.
Core businesses of the Koo's Group now include Taiwan Cement Corp (
Younger generations of both clans in the Koo family are also gradually taking over the helm including Jeffrey Koo Jr, who is the eldest son of Jeffrey Koo. He currently chairs the Chinatrust Commercial Bank (
Market watchers yesterday lauded the Koo family's progressive and clear-cut approach to differentiate their core businesses as well as to improve financial transparency.
Hsieh Chin-ho (
He added that the family appears to have retained a good working relationship among its members, although Jeffrey Koo's business outperformed Koo Chen-fu's ill-performing China Life Insurance in December 2001.
Koo Chen-fu may face a challenge ahead in cleaning up the mess left behind by his deceased eldest son, Chester Koo (辜啟允) -- who died of gall-bladder cancer at the age of 48 in 2001 -- at Taiwan Cement, which has a liability of NT$50 billion, Hsieh said.
But Mike Chow (
Taiwan Cement president Leslie Koo announced in April that the company plans to invest US$2 billion in its China-based plants over the next five years, aiming to become the largest cement maker in China by 2008.
William Fong (
"The move will help dismiss market concerns that a family-run business usually involves complicated hidden debts that are not easy to detect and fear that the burden will be put on the banking business," Fong said.
Fong added that Chinatrust has been toning down its family-run nature by recruiting professionals such as Eric Chen (陳聖德), formerly country officer of Citigroup Taiwan, and his 19 top staff.
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