This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:02 p.m. on Mar. 3, 2026.
With private equity fund (PEF) manager STIC Investments set to hold its first regular shareholders meeting since a change in its largest shareholder, signs emerged that the current management is moving to mend ties with the activist fund that had kept up pressure. Not only Align Partners, which had aggressively made shareholder proposals, but also Petra Asset Management, whose stance had been unclear, each recommended one outside director candidate to management.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 3rd, STIC Investments will put to a vote at the regular shareholders meeting on the 27th the appointments of outside director candidates Lee Ji-haeng, David Choi and Kim Bo-hoon.
Candidate Lee was recommended by Align. Align CEO Lee Chang-hwan is said to have recommended Lee to STIC Investments' management and placed the name on the slate.
Lee worked as an analyst in Citigroup Global Markets' investment banking division, an investment director at CVC Capital Partners, a director at Headland Capital and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), and from 2019 until the end of last year as a partner at SoftBank Vision Fund. While at Vision Fund, Lee also served on the boards of portfolio companies including Naver Z (Zepeto), Yanolja, Riiid and IYUNO.
Petra Asset Management recommended David Choi, an endowed chair professor at Loyola Marymount University in the United States, as an outside director candidate. Choi's background includes consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and senior fellow at Harvard Business School. Like Align, Petra directly recommended Choi to STIC Investments' management, which accepted the recommendation and placed him on the slate.
Separately, outside director candidate Kim Bo-hoon is said to have been directly recommended by STIC Investments Vice Chairman Gwak Dong-geol. Kim previously was a partner in the financial advisory practice at Deloitte Anjin and now heads the deals division at EZ Accounting Corporation.
Earlier, on Jan. 20, STIC Investments said its largest shareholder would change to U.S.-based manager Millie Capital. That came as Chairman Do Yong-hwan sold 11.44% out of his 13.44% equity stake to Millie Capital. Do first indicated his intention to sell equity to Millie Capital, and Millie Capital, which has invested in undervalued listed companies, is said to have responded positively and acquired management control.
The combined equity stake of Chairman Do and his special affiliates has plunged from 19.1% to 7.66%. Vice Chairman Gwak Dong-geol holds 3.77%. That is the largest equity stake among STIC Investments' management.
Align holds 7.63% and Petra 5.09%. They remain the third- and fourth-largest shareholders after the largest shareholder Millie Capital (25%) and the company side including Chairman Do (7.66%). They have not made shareholder proposals for this regular shareholders meeting.