This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 1:56 p.m. on Aug. 5, 2026.
The sale of management control of KOSDAQ-listed EMNI(083470) has been completed. EMNI, which had been up for sale on the market since early this year, was expected to face difficulties due to a somewhat high price, but the deal closed after the seller cut the price at the last minute.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 5th, the Myeongin Academy consortium is signing a contract today to acquire about 28% equity held by DSP Corporation, the largest shareholder of EMNI. The sale price is reported at 11.6 billion won. The per-share sale price is about 2,000 won, applying a premium of more than double compared with the recent stock price in the 900-won range.
DSP Corporation, the largest shareholder of EMNI, has been pushing to sell EMNI's management control since early this year. Once this transaction is completed, DSP Corporation will exit five years after acquiring EMNI in 2021. EMNI, which at one point even entered rehabilitation due to worsening operating results, pursued performance improvement during this period, including a merger with EM Index, but did not achieve significant results.
DSP Corporation hoped for a sale price of 14 billion won early this year, but the sale drifted for a long time because the price was high. Based on the stock price at the time, DSP Corporation's equity value was about 5.5 billion won, meaning the desired sale price reflected a premium of three times.
However, the sale appears to have wrapped up as EMNI's stock price rose slightly recently and the sale price was set at 11.6 billion won, about an 18% discount. Since July, the market capitalization requirement for maintaining a KOSDAQ listing has been raised to 20 billion won, making a sale inevitable to prevent EMNI's delisting. EMNI's market cap is currently about 20 billion won, and considering that the listing standard will be raised to 30 billion won after next year, it would have been difficult to avoid delisting.
An industry official said, "The seller was strongly determined, saying it would cut the price if that's what it took to sell management control."
Myeongin Academy is an educational corporation that operates Daechi Myeongin Academy. Together with Daechi Myeongin Academy, it runs about 40 academies nationwide, including Myeongin SKY Math and MI Training Manual. Core affiliates include Myeongin Edu, Myeongin Education, and The Myeongin. Last year's sales were about 50 billion won, with operating profit around 2 billion won.
However, business synergy between EMNI and Myeongin Academy does not appear to be large. EMNI's main business is displays, and it also has an AI research platform through its subsidiary Emergelabs and an intelligent robot business at its affiliate Neurolab. In contrast, Myeongin Academy operates online and offline education businesses. Industry officials said this M&A is part of a strategic investment for Myeongin Academy's backdoor listing or participation in management rather than business synergy.