The stock price of the medical artificial intelligence (AI) corporation Lunit is weak due to the block deal (off-market bulk trading) involving executives and major shareholders, raising concerns that they employed a "trick" to avoid prior disclosure.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 18th, six executives of Lunit and one major shareholder sold part of their holdings in block deals (off-market bulk trading) before the market opened that day. The sold shares totaled 380,334, and the target corporation is an American long-fund management company.
As a result, the previously soaring stock price of Lunit has declined, prompting the company to provide an explanation. A Lunit representative noted, "The repayments of loans and personal reasons were due to the active participation of executives and related parties in the company's large-scale capital procurement plan," and added, "This is unrelated to the company's growth potential."
On the same day, Lunit announced that Chairman Baek Seung-wook and CEO Seo Beom-seok purchased a total of 6 billion won worth of 7,747 company shares through on-market transactions. This action was meant to alleviate shareholder anxiety regarding the preceding block deal and respond to potential stock price declines.
However, the market is casting suspicious eyes on this block deal. There are concerns that they may have employed a "trick" to evade the prior disclosure system for insider trading that was implemented in July of this year. This system was introduced to prevent the abrupt stock price drops caused by bulk sales by internal members of listed companies, which harm investors. Major shareholders holding more than 10% equity, company management, and strategic investors (SIs) are required to disclose the transaction price, volume, and period at least 30 days in advance when trading more than 1% or 5 billion won.
From the disclosures submitted by Lunit on that day, Executive Director Park Hyun-seong, Director Lee Jeong-in, Executive Director Park Seung-kyun, Executive Director Yoo Dong-geun, and Executive Director Paeng Kyeong-hyeon each sold 64,156 common shares at 77,934 won. The calculated amount for each individual's sale is 4,999,993,704 won. They just barely fell short of the 5 billion won threshold that triggers the prior disclosure obligation.
Earlier, Lunit's stock price surged nearly 70% over the past month, driven by institutional and pension fund buying. The success of medical AI corporations both domestically and internationally has positively impacted investor sentiment. As of 2:57 p.m. that day, Lunit was trading at 76,100 won, down 7,700 won (9.19%) from the previous trading day.