This article was posted on Dec. 31, 2025, at 2:20 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Online e-commerce corporation Exion Group has withdrawn its investment plan in GeneOne Life Science. Exion Group, together with Daeho AL, had invested through the Companion Growth Investment Partnership No. 1 (Companion Growth Partnership) and fought a management rights dispute with the entire former management of GeneOne Life Science. After the dispute, the Companion Growth Partnership, which seized control, pursued a paid-in capital increase to strengthen its status as the complete largest shareholder and to boost GeneOne Life Science's financial capacity, but it faced the setback of Exion Group's departure.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system and sources in the capital markets industry, Exion Group had planned to contribute 9 billion won of the 16 billion won paid-in capital increase funds to the Companion Growth Partnership, but it withdrew that contribution plan and decided to use the funds for company operations.
With Exion Group canceling its contribution to the Companion Growth Partnership, the partnership's plan to become GeneOne Life Science's largest shareholder is now much more likely to encounter difficulties. The Companion Growth Partnership is currently the second-largest shareholder of GeneOne Life Science and has secured management rights through the management dispute. But the partnership's equity stake in GeneOne Life Science is only about 8%, so to exercise management rights stably it is essential to acquire additional equity to become the largest shareholder.
Originally, the Companion Growth Partnership planned to become the largest shareholder "peacefully" through two third-party allocation paid-in capital increases. While the 10 billion won paid-in capital increase was completed by offsetting existing borrowings, the 26 billion won paid-in capital increase failed. That is why the Companion Growth Partnership ended up with the ambiguous status of second-largest shareholder. At the time of the 26 billion won paid-in capital increase, Exion Group also broke its payment promise, leading to the cancellation of the capital increase.
GeneOne Life Science has run losses for a full 21 years from 2004 through 2024 and has continued operations so far relying solely on external capital financing. As of the third quarter, GeneOne Life Science's cash and cash equivalents total only about 1 billion won, while short-term borrowings alone reach 8 billion won. The company is therefore in a situation where it must raise funds quickly.
With Exion Group deciding not to fund the contribution, projections indicate that securing the paid-in capital increase funds will again be difficult. In fact, after the paid-in capital increase plan was first released last Sept., the timetable changed several times: payment was expected in Oct. 2025 but has now been pushed back to Feb. 2026.
The nonlisted fintech corporation PayGate has stepped forward as a potential funder to replace Exion Group. However, as of the end of last year PayGate's capital was only about 9 billion won, so its capacity to invest in GeneOne Life Science is limited.
There is also analysis that Exion Group's withdrawal of its contribution was foreseeable. Exion Group has long had poor earnings and narrowly avoided a delisting eligibility review, so its capacity for outside investment is limited. After posting losses from 2021 through 2024, Exion Group intended to seek a rebound through new businesses such as construction, manufacturing and robotics. In 2025 it planned to pursue a virtual asset business as a new venture but abandoned the project after the Korea Exchange (KRX) recommended halting it during the delisting eligibility review process.