This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:15 p.m. on Jul. 15, 2026.
It has been confirmed that the corporate rehabilitation proceedings for semiconductor and display parts company FineOne have been terminated. FineOne, which passed a preliminary KOSDAQ listing review last year but voluntarily withdrew its listing after failing to clear the Financial Supervisory Service hurdle, was unable to overcome the liquidity crunch that followed, raising the likelihood of liquidation.
On the 15th, the investment banking (IB) industry and, according to legal sources, said the Seoul Bankruptcy Court decided on the 26th of last month to terminate the rehabilitation proceedings for FineOne. It is understood that the termination was made under the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act because FineOne did not submit its rehabilitation plan during the submission period, which had been extended to the 25th of last month. The period for immediate appeal expired on the 10th.
A decision to terminate rehabilitation proceedings does not immediately mean bankruptcy is confirmed. If termination is decided before approval of the rehabilitation plan, a court bankruptcy ruling is not mandatory, and the company may apply for rehabilitation again later. However, FineOne pushed for a public sale after filing for rehabilitation but failed to find a buyer. The industry view is that this has increased the likelihood of liquidation. FineOne's website is currently inaccessible, meaning either website management expense spending has been cut off or external functions have completely stopped.
FineOne once sought to debut on KOSDAQ. Founded in 2018, FineOne manufactures equipment and parts for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) production, focusing on deposition-process parts such as mask frames. Expanding into semiconductor deposition parts, it applied to the Korea Exchange (KRX) in Nov. 2024 for a preliminary KOSDAQ listing review and passed the review in Jan. last year.
But the IPO ultimately fell through. FineOne filed a securities registration statement in Apr. last year and prepared for a public offering, but the prolonged review by the Financial Supervisory Service, the burden of performance scrutiny, and investor concerns about the offering structure converged. Facing the expiration of the preliminary approval's validity, it voluntarily withdrew in May of the same year.
After the IPO withdrawal, FineOne's liquidity crisis deepened. The company highlighted growth potential by touting investment in next-generation 8th-generation OLED display lines, but in a situation where the burden of large-scale facility investment had grown, it failed to draw new investment and posted 95.4 billion won in revenue and 4.1 billion won in operating profit in 2024, showing headline growth, but its results deteriorated rapidly last year when the IPO fell through. As of Oct. last year, FineOne's current assets were only about 12 billion won, while current liabilities rose to 127.2 billion won. In the end, it filed for corporate rehabilitation proceedings in Sept. last year, and proceedings began in Oct. of the same year.
After the commencement of rehabilitation, FineOne sought recovery through a public sale. It selected Samil Accounting Corporation as the sale manager and began the process, but it appears that securing a buyer and preparing a rehabilitation plan did not go smoothly. The court extended the submission deadline for the plan six times in total but ultimately decided this time to terminate the proceedings.
Financial investors (FIs) suffered heavy losses on their investments in FineOne. Following 2 billion won raised from Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) in 2020 and 500 million won from Temsco in 2021, NH Hedge Asset Management and Timefolio Asset Management invested 2 billion won and 1 billion won, respectively, in 2022. Several other venture funds also invested, bringing the total round investment to 16 billion won. Over roughly four years, the total amount raised approached 40 billion won.
An official at an investment firm said, "Last year, when FineOne entered rehabilitation proceedings, we determined that the likelihood of recovering our investment was low and wrote it off."