This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 8:38 a.m. on July 16, 2026.
KOSDAQ-listed Seoul Electronics & Telecom(027040) has reportedly been put up for sale again after a successful transfer of management control in May. This is because financial risks, such as a lawsuit over the return of funds and repayment of lending, that had been flagged at the time of the sale have come to the fore. Seoul Electronics & Telecom, once part of National Information & Credit Evaluation (NICE) Group, is showing signs of strain amid frequent changes in control.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry and capital market sources on the 16th, Daon International, the largest shareholder of Seoul Electronics & Telecom, is pushing to sell management control. Talks are underway with a potential buyer, and the sale contract could be signed as early as next week (the 20th–24th).
If this sale of management control goes through, Seoul Electronics & Telecom will end up welcoming three largest shareholders in about two months. Kim Won-woo, president of National Information & Credit Evaluation (NICE) Group, who had been the largest shareholder of Seoul Electronics & Telecom, and related parties sold their 41.86% equity for 10.8 billion won in May to Daon International and financial investors (FIs).
Seoul Electronics & Telecom was acquired by Daon International and, about 10 days later in June, carried out a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase, under which it was set to hand the largest shareholder position back to Trinity Heart. With a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase of 15 billion won issuing 7,378,258 new shares, Trinity Heart would secure about 35% equity in Seoul Electronics & Telecom and become the largest shareholder. The payment date for the capital increase is the 29th.
However, it has been confirmed that Trinity Heart's participation in the capital increase is uncertain. In response, the largest shareholder side of Seoul Electronics & Telecom changed plans to alter the target of the capital increase while also deciding to sell existing shares.
According to industry sources, this change in plan came as financial risks became more pronounced. At the time of the sale, Seoul Electronics & Telecom faced a lawsuit to pay damages and issues with repaying liabilities. The original plan was to use Trinity Heart's capital increase funds to resolve the debt, but as the likelihood of payment decreased, the largest shareholder side decided to step away from management control altogether.
In 2022, Seoul Electronics & Telecom attempted to sell its subsidiary Zinitix to Abpro Bio, but the deal fell through after misstatements in the financial statements were discovered during due diligence. Abpro Bio and Seoul Electronics & Telecom blamed each other for the collapse of the contract and waged a legal battle, and the appellate court sided with Abpro Bio. The refund that Seoul Electronics & Telecom must pay Abpro Bio, including the deposit and interest, is about 8 billion won. After the ruling, they reached a settlement under which Seoul Electronics & Telecom would deliver roughly 3 billion won worth of ITM Semiconductor shares it held.
By contrast, the issue of repaying liabilities is reportedly still unresolved. Seoul Electronics & Telecom is in a position to repay about 5.5 billion won borrowed from S2B Network, a private company of the owner family of National Information & Credit Evaluation (NICE) Group.
Regarding the borrowing fund, NICE Property, an affiliate during the NICE Group era, provided collateral, but since leaving the group, the collateral transfer issue is said to remain unresolved. In addition, as the equity in ITM Semiconductor, on which a pledge had been set as a guarantee for the original borrowing fund, was delivered to Abpro Bio, the entire lending must now be repaid in cash.
An industry source said, "The remaining debt is not large, but since the current largest shareholder side ultimately chose to sell, we need to watch how the sale proceeds and how the debt is repaid," adding, "Daon International secured most of the acquisition funds through borrowing and pledged the shares as collateral, so the burden from a falling share price would have been significant."
Meanwhile, multiple attempts were made to contact Daon International to ask about the progress of the sale of management control and future plans, but contact could not be made.