The largest shareholder of Maxst, a company specializing in extended reality (XR) technology, is transferring management rights to the Meta Platforms investment fund.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service electronic disclosure system on the 23rd, Bahk Jae-wan, the CEO and largest shareholder of Maxst, signed a contract to transfer 900,100 of his 3.9 million shares to the Meta Platforms investment fund. The amount for the share transfer is 3 billion 33 million 3,300 won. The per-share transfer price is 3,333 won, reflecting a premium of 135% compared to Maxst's closing price of 1,415 won on that day.
The Meta Platforms investment fund will also participate in a 7 billion won third-party allotment capital increase. It is expected to acquire 10 billion won worth of convertible bonds from Maxst. Accordingly, the total amount that the Meta Platforms investment fund will use to acquire management rights in Maxst is approximately 20 billion won.
Maxst plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in February of next year to appoint a new director designated by the Meta Platforms investment fund. The largest investor in the Meta Platforms investment fund is Playc, a corporation controlled by M&A expert Kim Byung-jin. Kim founded the IT entertainment company 'Geni Contents' in 1997, sold it, and then acquired and sold companies such as Cloud Air, Liveplex, and Kyungnam Pharmaceutical.
Maxst drew industry attention in 2016 by supplying augmented reality (AR) manual solutions to Hyundai Motor's Genesis. At that time, Hyundai Motor and Mando participated as strategic investors in Maxst’s Series A and B rounds, and domestic venture capital firms such as L&S Venture Capital, Intervest, Partners Investment, and YG Investment also joined as financial investors.
Subsequently, Maxst made a spectacular debut on the Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) market in 2021, recording the highest subscription competition rate for an initial public offering (IPO). On its first day of trading, July 27, based on its closing price (39,000 won), the market capitalization was in the 330 billion won range, hitting 700 billion won in August of that year, and surpassing 800 billion won on November 17 (92,900 won). This represents an increase of nearly 520% based on the offering price of 15,000 won.
However, due to global mobility restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the XR market expansion continued, but demand decreased after the end of the pandemic, leading to a period of stagnation. The speed of XR diffusion slowed down more than expected, and performance experienced a downward trend, causing the stock price to decline since 2022. On that day, Maxst's closing price was 1,415 won, with a market capitalization of approximately 42.8 billion won.