This article was published on Aug. 20, 2025, at 3:24 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
The acquisition of NBT management rights by the healthcare startup Momento, which drew attention for its acquisition of a KOSDAQ-listed company, escalated into a legal dispute. This was due to Momento filing a stock delivery claim lawsuit, stating that "we had the funds," contrary to earlier reports regarding the startup's contract termination due to funding shortages.
On the 20th, according to the venture investment industry, Momento filed a stock delivery claim lawsuit at the Seoul Central District Court against CEO Park Soo-geun, the largest shareholder of reward-based advertising platform operator NBT, the day before. The claim concerns 3,819,756 common shares (22.5% equity) held by CEO Park, which was reported to be worth about 13.8 billion won.
NBT, established in 2012, operates the domestic No. 1 reward-based advertising platform "Cash Slide." It boasts securing advertisers by encouraging user participation instead of merely displaying ads, and it has also gained loyal customers through rewards, leading to its listing on the KOSDAQ market in January 2021.
The legal dispute between Momento and CEO Park originated from the announcement of the termination and cancellation of the stock transfer contract with the largest shareholder of NBT last June. CEO Park, who determined to sell equity for NBT management rights, initially decided in March to sell his NBT shares at 3,600 won per share, but he later withdrew this due to unresolved transactions three months later.
At that time, NBT announced that Momento had indicated it would fund the entire amount required to acquire the management rights equity, but since it failed to complete the transaction by the contract's deadline (June 26), the sale was deemed unsuccessful. The market interpreted this as the startup, which had been aiming to acquire a listed company, ultimately failing to secure the acquisition funding.
However, it appears that Momento continued to seek the acquisition of NBT's management rights. Notably, even though Momento had paid 5 billion won as a down payment and had no issues with funding, CEO Park unilaterally terminated the contract, prompting Momento to file for a prohibition on share disposal and recently obtaining a ruling in its favor. Consequently, CEO Park Soo-geun cannot sell NBT shares.
The venture investment industry believes that Momento's acquisition of NBT has reached a new turning point. The stock delivery claim lawsuit is a procedure that demands the enforcement of the contract. If the court continues to side with Momento, as it did with the issuance of the prohibition, Momento could become the new owner of NBT.
Meanwhile, Momento's desire to acquire NBT is reported to be strong. Although Momento has stepped up as the acquirer, the actual acquirer is its parent company, Nudge Healthcare. Nudge Healthcare, which operates a reward advertising platform called "Cashwork," is said to be aiming to expand its market dominance through NBT.