This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:24 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2026.
As the aerospace materials corporations Spear moved ahead with an investment in a nickel smelter in Indonesia that had seemed likely to fall through, it is accelerating fundraising to secure the investment money.
Some investors are concerned because the buyer of Spear's convertible bonds (CB) worth 25 billion won out of the total 344.1 billion won investment is a newly established company with paid-in capital of 28 million won, but a third-generation member of a pharmaceutical company is known to be behind this new entity. For this reason, there should be no major issue with the payment for the 25 billion won CB, a person familiar with the deal said.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 6th, Spear announced on the 31st that it would invest 344.1 billion won in a nickel smelter in Indonesia through a subsidiary. The intent is to secure 10% equity in the smelter and stabilize the nickel supply chain. The move was reportedly requested by Spear's major client, U.S. SpaceX.
Given the corporations' size relative to the investment, there had been widespread concern that the acquisition of equity in the smelter would fall through, but the company dramatically succeeded in recruiting investors.
However, concerns persist because the investment scale is large. A representative example is the 25 billion won CB that was slated to be issued to the unlisted company Baekruta on the 2nd. On the 5th, it also said it would sell 1.8 million treasury shares it held to raise about 34.4 billion won in cash. The purposes for securing funds were listed as "acquisition of other corporations' securities" and "disposal for a capital contribution to a subsidiary" respectively.
Baekruta, which is acquiring the 25 billion won CB, is a corporation established in 2024 with paid-in capital of only 28 million won. Because it is a paper company rather than a business conducting substantive operations, questions have been raised about whether it has the ability to pay.
However, according to the capital market industry, the funding behind Baekruta is known to come from the owner family of the well-known pharmaceutical group JW Group. This person has taken a "secretive" approach by hiding their identity and making multiple investments on the KOSDAQ market.
A person in the industry said, "In a previous investment made by Baekruta, funds from Lee Dong-ha of the JW Group owner family were used," adding, "Contrary to appearances, Baekruta has a solid backer."
Lee Dong-ha is the second son of the late honorary chairman Lee Jong-ho of JW Group, who passed away in 2023. In other words, as a third-generation member of the owner family, Lee Dong-ha is not particularly involved in managing JW Group at present. Although he holds small amounts of equity in some JW Group affiliates, he is not currently registered as an inside director at any of them.
In general, when a group is inherited, the main affiliate is handed down to the eldest son or daughter, and noncore affiliates are divided among siblings, but JW Group concentrated most affiliates with the eldest son, Chairman Lee Kyung-ha.
Lee Dong-ha has been actively investing on the KOSDAQ market rather than within JW Group. However, most investments are carried out through paper companies, and Lee rarely reveals himself.
It is known that Lee Dong-ha funded Christianity, which invested in the cosmetics corporations EcoGlow (formerly Skin N Skin) last year and became the No. 2 shareholder. Christianity invested 2 billion won each in EcoGlow's 13th and 14th CBs and participated in a rights offering to secure equity.
At the time Christianity carried out its investment in EcoGlow, questions were also raised about the actual investment entity. Christianity was a corporation established in Oct. 2024 with paid-in capital of only 30 million won. In addition, the market raised suspicions because, similarly, it had no actual operating business and lacked a proper office or staff.
There is also speculation that another party besides Lee Dong-ha was involved in this Spear investment. That is because 25 billion won is a burdensome amount to provide at once, even for a pharmaceutical owner family. An industry official said, "The possibility that Baekruta's payment for Spear's CB will fall through is slim," but added, "The 25 billion won investment appears too large to have come solely from Lee Dong-ha."