This article was published on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 10:14 a.m. on Jan. 30, 2026.
KOSDAQ-listed INITECH will participate in a paid-in capital increase of DMOA, which used to belong to the SSANGBANGWOOL group. INITECH had invested in DMOA convertible bonds (CBs) in September last year, sold them, and is now reinvesting through a paid-in capital increase. Before this, it also invested in another SSANGBANGWOOL affiliate, VIVIEN.
On the 30th, according to the investment banking industry and the Financial Supervisory Service electronic disclosure system, DMOA changed the third-party allotment target of its paid-in capital increase from Eagles Distribution to PrimeLight Investment Partnership No. 1 on the 28th. The PrimeLight partnership was established with 99.98% of its capital provided by INITECH.
DMOA was formerly an affiliate of the SSANGBANGWOOL group and was sold during the group's dismantling after chairman Kim Sung-tae's legal risk emerged. At the time, DMOA, which had been a subsidiary of VIVIEN, passed to SJ Holdings first investment partnership, the current largest shareholder.
However, DMOA's situation did not improve despite the change in the largest shareholder. Since first announcing a plan for a paid-in capital increase in April last year, the payment dates were extended several times, making it difficult to raise funds. But recently, with INITECH stepping in as an investor, the likelihood of securing funds has increased. DMOA plans to issue 2.6 million new shares in this paid-in capital increase. The issue price is 3,700 won, raising a total of 9.62 billion won.
This is not the first time INITECH and DMOA have ties. In September last year, INITECH invested 12.7 billion won in DMOA's seventh-series CB. At the time the CB was issued, the conversion price was 6,917 won, about twice the paid-in capital increase issue price. Converted into convertible shares, that equates to about 1.83 million shares.
INITECH sold all of the CBs to DMOA in December last year, about three months after making the investment, even though conversion to shares was nearly impossible under the conversion conditions. It is unknown through what process cash-strapped DMOA repurchased INITECH's CBs.
In any case, through the paid-in capital increase INITECH can secure a larger stake at a cheaper price compared with the CB. The investment amount decreased from 12.7 billion won to 9.62 billion won, but the shares obtainable increased from about 1.83 million to 2.6 million. That approaches the roughly 2.948772 million shares when adding the SJ Holdings partnership's related-party shares, the current largest shareholder.
INITECH's investment in DMOA appears to reflect a past interest in the SSANGBANGWOOL group. In December last year, INITECH invested 10 billion won in VIVIEN CBs through the PrimeLight partnership. On the 21st, it also decided to invest an additional 15 billion won in VIVIEN CBs through its subsidiary ININEXT. If those CBs are all converted into shares, INITECH would become VIVIEN's largest shareholder.
Some say former G&G Group chairman Lee Yong-ho is behind INITECH's interest in SSANGBANGWOOL. Lee was a central figure in the 'Lee Yong-ho gate,' which started with a treasure ship salvage fraud during the Kim Dae-jung administration and escalated into power-related corruption. Suspicions were already raised that Lee was involved in SJ Holdings' acquisition of INITECH last year. Sources in the capital markets go further, saying Lee is the person who effectively controls INITECH, uses SSANGBANGWOOL business cards and commutes to SSANGBANGWOOL's office in Seobinggo, Seoul.
In response, Lee said he is not at all involved in INITECH's management and that it is not true that he uses SSANGBANGWOOL business cards. Lee said, "It is true that I was partly involved in the sale process of INITECH, but I do not have influence now," and added, "The claim that I am related to SSANGBANGWOOL is a one-sided allegation by slanderous forces."
After this outlet's report, INITECH said it had withdrawn from PrimeLight Investment Partnership No. 1. DMOA also announced in a corrected disclosure on the third-party allotment paid-in capital increase at 3:42 p.m. that the members of PrimeLight Investment Partnership No. 1 have changed to a person surnamed Lee and a person surnamed Park.