This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:46 p.m. on Jun. 12, 2026.
Minority shareholders of TERA SCIENCE, which is undergoing delisting procedures, are preparing a third rehabilitation filing. Two rehabilitation filings in 2024 were previously made but were thwarted due to reasons such as failure to meet requirements. The shareholder coalition, which has been alleging embezzlement and breach of trust by current management and calling for normalization of management, sees this rehabilitation filing as effectively the last chance.
According to the capital market industry on the 12th, the TERA SCIENCE shareholder coalition has recently been pooling equity to file for rehabilitation. The target equity ratio is 10%, which makes a rehabilitation filing possible.
TERA SCIENCE has been embroiled in a prolonged management control dispute among current management, former management, and the shareholder coalition. Former management and the shareholder coalition claim that after Chairman Park Jeong-gyu of Davolink, known as the de facto owner of TERA SCIENCE, took control of the company, the management condition deteriorated due to embezzlement and breach of trust. In 2023, the stock price surged as a lithium-themed stock and then plunged, raising suspicions of stock manipulation.
In 2024, some shareholders filed a criminal complaint against current management over alleged embezzlement and breach of trust totaling 28.2 billion won and took legal action. During a tax audit by the Seoul Regional Tax Service last year, embezzlement by management, including Chairman Park, was also confirmed, and an additional tax of about 20 billion won was imposed.
TERA SCIENCE is proceeding with delisting procedures due to continued management deterioration, two consecutive years of audit opinion refusals, and the accumulation of penalty points for inaccurate disclosures. The shareholder coalition's position is that, to save the company, an asset preservation order through rehabilitation and the sale of management control to a third party are necessary. The view is that sending the company into rehabilitation to "freeze" cash flows and the like is the only way to save it.
However, the previous two rehabilitation filings ended in defeat for the shareholder coalition. The first rehabilitation filing in Jun. 2026 was dismissed by the court on the grounds that the company's assets exceeded its liabilities. Since the financial burden was not significant, the implication was that rehabilitation would be ineffective.
Subsequently, the second rehabilitation filing fell through as the company's sudden paid-in capital increase left the coalition short of the qualification for filing. The shareholder coalition gathered about 10.15% equity in November that year and reapplied to commence rehabilitation proceedings, but about a month later, in December, a 1.5 billion won paid-in capital increase via third-party allotment was carried out, lowering the coalition's equity ratio to the 9% range and leaving it short of the 10% equity required to file for rehabilitation.
If the shareholder coalition's rehabilitation filing is submitted this time, the back-and-forth between current management and the coalition over rehabilitation is expected to resume after about a year and six months. The coalition believes that the sale last month of TERA SCIENCE's Changwon plant land and facilities likely satisfied the financial requirements for rehabilitation. As the relevant asset was disposed of below book value, the level of liabilities relative to assets is judged to have risen to a level requiring rehabilitation. There is also growing expectation that rehabilitation will be accepted, considering the decline in business continuity due to the future plant sale and the financial burden stemming from the alleged embezzlement and breach of trust currently being raised.
This rehabilitation filing is likely to be the final dispute between the shareholder coalition and current management over whether to rehabilitate. If the delisting procedure resumes, maintaining the listing under current conditions is unlikely. With a decision on the company's application for a provisional injunction to suspend the effectiveness of the delisting decision expected soon, there is no time to spare.
Contrary to the shareholder coalition's claims, current management maintains that responsibility for the company's management deterioration lies not with them but with former management. Accordingly, they also filed a complaint against former management on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust. They are also said to be opposing the coalition's rehabilitation demand.
To ask about the shareholder coalition's third rehabilitation plan, we contacted TERA SCIENCE's Changwon headquarters, which responded, "The person who can respond is at the Seoul office." The Seoul office did not answer the phone.