This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 8:43 a.m. on July 7, 2026.
KOSDAQ-listed BENO TNR will get a new largest shareholder for the first time in about three years. Chairman Park Heong-joon, who controlled BENO TNR through Ramicus, the largest shareholder of BENO TNR, will exit with a twofold return about five years after the initial investment, including the early stake.
But some are raising concerns that this transaction allows the largest shareholder to monopolize the control premium. That is because the previous largest shareholder receives a 600% control premium, while the acquirer secures a large equity stake through a rights offering at a 10% discount. With a large number of new shares issued at a low price, critics say the shareholder value of existing minority shareholders will inevitably be damaged.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry and the Financial Supervisory Service's DART disclosure system on the 7th, Ramicus, the largest shareholder of BENO TNR, and CEO Jeong Jip-hoon signed a contract on the 3rd to sell about 4.78 million shares (about 12.7%) they hold to ACRO New Technology Association No. 241 for around 34 billion won. The sale price is 7,100 won per share, seven times the recent stock price of about 1,000 won.
ACRO New Technology Association, which will become the new largest shareholder of BENO TNR, will participate in a third-party allotment rights offering along with purchasing existing shares. In this rights offering, BENO TNR will issue about 11.74 million new shares at an issue price of 852 won, for a total of 10 billion won. That amounts to issuing new shares equal to 30% of the existing 73.51 million outstanding shares.
ACRO New Technology Association is expected to secure roughly 33% equity through a "package transaction" that simultaneously purchases old shares and subscribes to new shares. Ramicus, controlled by Chairman Park, secured about 1 million shares through a third-party allotment rights offering in 2021 and became the largest shareholder by acquiring 3.5 million shares through an open-market purchase in 2023. Considering the average purchase price at the time was 3,218 won, it succeeded in making more than double the gain in five years. Park is known in the domestic M&A market for acquiring MBizNetworks and ND Corp. in the past.
Individual investors are taking BENO TNR's sale of control as a positive. In fact, on the 6th, the next trading day after news of the control sale became known, BENO TNR shares hit the upper limit early in the session and closed up 10%.
BENO TNR, as profitability in its core interior construction business deteriorated, recently said it would enter the robotics business. The robotics business has yet to deliver results, but expectations for it appear to be reflected as funding comes in.
However, some warn that in the process of selling control, the control premium was monopolized by the largest shareholder and the shareholder value of existing minority shareholders was harmed. Before the disclosure of the sale of control, BENO TNR shares were around 1,000 won, and given the sale price of 7,100 won per share, the control premium on the existing shares was set at more than 600%. By contrast, the rights offering is being conducted at a 10% discount, allowing the new largest shareholder to easily secure a large equity stake. The gap between the old-share purchase price and the new-share subscription price is about ninefold.
An industry official noted, "It is a typical structure that funnels benefits to the largest shareholder in the process of selling control."
There was a case last year in a similar situation where the deal ultimately fell through. Global Tax Free, a KOSDAQ-listed company that announced a sale of control at the end of last year, withdrew the sale in just one day. At the time, the largest shareholder of Global Tax Free planned to sell existing shares with about a 60% control premium, while issuing new shares at a 10% discount through a rights offering. Lotte Rental also tried to conduct an existing-share sale and a third-party allotment rights offering simultaneously, but it ultimately collapsed.