This article was posted on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 10:51 a.m. on Mar. 9, 2026.
KOSDAQ-listed Flask appears likely to resolve the problem of an unpaid loan of 5.6 billion won that has posed a financial risk for a year. Flask is currently facing possible delisting due to financial opacity, but if it completes the recovery of funds, the public sale could gain momentum and the delisting cause may be addressed.
According to disclosures on the investment banking (IB) and Financial Supervisory Service electronic disclosure systems on the 9th, the foreclosure procedure on real estate taken as collateral for the 5.6 billion won loan that Flask lent to Hyundai Building Asset Management Co. last April has entered its final stages. At the time, Flask planned to receive 12% interest annually on the loan. The funds were intended to be lent for only one month, but the counterparty defaulted because of project financing (PF) failures.
Flask was suspended from trading at the time it lent the funds. With company normalization at a critical point, management mismanaged the money, and some small shareholders even raised suspicions that management diverted company assets during the delisting process.
Flask triggered a delisting cause after its 2023 financial statements failed to receive an auditor's opinion. The auditor at the time refused to express an opinion, saying it could not secure the validity and appropriateness of accounting treatment for Flask's investments in subsidiaries, loans, and advance payments. As a result, stock trading was halted and the then-pursued sale of management rights collapsed. With planned sales of existing shares and a rights offering suspended, and disclosures reversed, the company was even designated as an unfaithful disclosure company.
Afterward, Flask carried out a rights offering and began selling real estate to improve its financial structure, but the plan was derailed again when funds were improperly lent during the process.
When the loan issue resurfaced, Flask's largest shareholder, BN M Holdings, purchased the loan claim and moved to resolve financial uncertainty. The parent company stepped in to save its subsidiary. This suppressed immediate financial uncertainty, but the industry assessed that the complex intercompany lending issues that had caused the auditor's refusal of opinion had resurfaced.
However, recently the collateral real estate has found a buyer through public auction, making fund recovery possible. Accordingly, Flask and BN M Holdings terminated the debt transfer agreement, and Flask decided to directly pursue recovery of the loan.
A Flask official said, "We judged that direct collection of the claim is a swift and stable measure," and explained, "We agreed to conditionally terminate the debt assignment and transfer contract concluded with BN M Holdings as of Mar. 5."
With the long-standing unpaid loan problem resolved, the ongoing public sale is also expected to proceed smoothly. Orion E&C, a radioactive waste disposal company, was recently selected as the preferred bidder in the public sale conducted by Flask, and takeover negotiations are underway.
Orion E&C's intention to acquire is said to be firm. Lee Un-jang, chief executive of Orion E&C, earlier emerged as an acquirer of the bio company ADBIOTECH. It appears to have been an attempt to transform the listed ADBIOTECH into a nuclear power company and use it as a financing shell. However, Lee did not complete the ADBIOTECH acquisition and handed the company over to the E-Hwa Group (now E-Group).
From Orion E&C's perspective, which needs a listed company, if Flask's chances of rehabilitation increase, it is expected to pursue acquisition negotiations more actively.
An industry source said, "Orion E&C faced a funding issue once during the ADBIOTECH acquisition," and noted, "Whether it can secure acquisition funds will be crucial."