SEOUL (Reuters) – Korea’s new stock sale plan, announced on Oct 30 and valued at about $1.8 billion, has been put on hold due to a review order from South Korea’s financial regulator, a regulatory filing said on Wednesday.
This means that the overall schedule regarding the share sale is subject to change, and if the company fails to submit a revised share sale plan within three months, it will be considered withdrawn, the filing said.
In a separate note, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said the share sale plan did not provide sufficient description of the purpose and decision-making process, as well as the due diligence process by the bookrunner, while also finding discrepancies with the company’s previous plans. submission of tenders.
The world’s largest zinc refiner said on Oct. 30 that it planned to issue new shares worth about $1.8 billion, just two days after buying back shares at a higher price.
That prompted the FSS to launch an investigation to determine whether Korea Zinc’s decision to issue new shares involved unfair practices.
Responding to the launch of the regulator’s investigation, Korea Zinc said last week that “concerns about the potential problems in the process of pursuing this public offering are completely unfounded” and that “the considerations for a public offering took place after the repurchase of shares on October 23.”
After the filing on Wednesday, a Korea Zinc spokesperson said it will do its utmost to resolve the confusion and misunderstanding in the market after reviewing the FSS’s requirement.
Run by the Choi family, Korea Zinc is locked in a bitter battle to gain control of the $18 billion zinc empire with the co-founding Chang family, whose conglomerate Young Poong made an initial joint bid with private equity firm MBK Partners in September.
Shares in Korea Zinc fell as much as 8% shortly after the filing, erasing earlier gains.
