This article was published on Sept. 4, 2025, at 3:52 p.m. on ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site.
Office furniture company KOAS, listed on the KOSPI, is recently showing an active investment trend. After investing in HLB Pep with an affiliate of HLB Group in March, it has decided to participate in the capital increase of the unlisted drug development company Novelty Nobility at the end of last month. On the 3rd of this month, KOAS announced that it plans to purchase 30 billion won worth of shares in three companies, including EID, Ehwa Technologies Information, and ETRON, that are undergoing a preparation for delisting.
Considering that KOAS is in a state of complete capital erosion, this decision is regarded as unusual. The industry is focusing on Kim Bok-deok, the founder of the lighting company Solux and a well-known private equity investor, who is expected to invest significant funds in Novelty Nobility. Former CEO Kim has made substantial profits by selling shares of Solux to ARIBIO along with several investment associations.
In relation to KOAS's recent activities, the name of Jin Yang-gon, chairman of HLB Group, is also mentioned. This is presumed because KOAS has a history of close collaboration with HLB Group companies, such as investing in HLB Pep.
KOAS announced that it plans to participate in the capital increase of Novelty Nobility to enter the new business field of drug development and pharmaceuticals. After KOAS invests 15 billion won to acquire 14.3% (about 2.44 million shares) of Novelty Nobility, it is expected to become the largest shareholder. The subscription and payment date for the capital increase is on the 8th of this month.
On the 3rd, KOAS announced another investment plan. It intends to acquire shares of three Ehwa Group companies, including Ehwa Technologies Information, EID, and ETRON, which are undergoing preparation for delisting, for up to 30 billion won.
On that day, KOAS revealed that it had already invested over 10.8 billion won to acquire about 54.14 million shares of Ehwa Technologies Information. As a result, KOAS has become the largest shareholder of Ehwa Technologies Information, holding 25.28% of its shares, surpassing the existing largest shareholder ETRON (including special relationships with 25.24%).
Given that the company is in a state of complete capital erosion, KOAS's aggressive investment can be seen as an unusual move. As of the end of June this year, KOAS's capital was 1.6 billion won, and its total capital was in the negative (-) 6.6 billion won, indicating complete capital erosion. Losses are also accumulating.
As the marginal company shows aggressive investment trends, creditors holding some equity in KOAS are being focused on in the industry.
Founded in 1983 as an office furniture company, KOAS's largest shareholder remains the founding family of Chairman Roh Jae-geun, who, until five years ago, was generating over 100 billion won in annual revenue, but their equity is only 12.46%. Last year, Chairman Roh's family transferred a significant amount of shares to several investment associations, which included Kim Bok-deok, founder of Solux.
Kim Bok-deok holds some equity and convertible bonds of KOAS. In particular, the company issued convertible bonds to raise 10 billion won, and these funds will be used for the acquisition of Novelty Nobility's equity.
Inside and outside the company, there is speculation that Kim Bok-deok, founder of Solux, who pushed for the merger with ARIBIO, and those who worked in the capital markets with him are creditors of KOAS, leading to a recurrence of the phenomenon of Solux's stock price surge seen during its acquisition of ARIBIO. Former CEO Noh Byeong-gu has become a co-CEO of KOAS.
ARIBIO, a company developing dementia treatments that has attempted multiple times to pursue special listing based on technology, is pushing for a merger with lighting device company Solux, but has not passed the review threshold of the Financial Supervisory Service. During this process, Solux's stock price surged, and former CEO Kim earned substantial profits in the process of selling management rights and shares to ARIBIO's Jeong Jae-jun. He reported assets amounting to 144.7 billion won when he ran for the National Assembly as a candidate for the People Power Party in last year's general election.
As KOAS decided to acquire Novelty Nobility, its stock price has already risen significantly. This is similar to the case where Solux's stock price surged while pushing for the merger with ARIBIO.
Novelty Nobility transferred technology related to a 1 trillion won drug candidate to its partner Acelyrin in the U.S. in 2022 and passed the technology evaluation for the KOSDAQ special listing based on technology. However, suddenly, Acelyrin's decision to reverse the technology transfer caused significant difficulties for the company. Investment funds fled en masse, forcing the withdrawal of its KOSDAQ listing plans. In this situation, funds from creditors via KOAS are expected to flow into Novelty Nobility.
If KOAS's stock price rises as a favorable element of acquiring Novelty Nobility, creditors will benefit, and additional effects are expected. If creditors convert convertible bonds (CB) and bonds with warrants (BW) into shares, the company could escape its capital erosion state.
Additionally, KOAS is also providing funds to HLB Group. KOAS participated in the capital increase of HLB Pep, a bio-material company acquired by HLB Group, along with related companies such as HLB Jenex. Due to this investment history, there are rumors that Jin Yang-gon, chairman of HLB Group, is cooperating with KOAS in the acquisition of Novelty Nobility.