This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:59 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2026.
KOSDAQ-listed Thumbage(208640) abruptly scrapped its paid-in capital increase for shareholders a day before subscriptions were set to begin. With the cancellation, Thumbage not only faces designation as an issue under management, but also a growing risk of delisting. On top of that, questions have been raised about compensation for investors who already traded rights offering warrants, drawing investor attention.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 6th, Thumbage said on the 5th that it would withdraw the shareholder-allotted paid-in capital increase it had been pursuing.
Thumbage has been pushing a shareholder-allotted paid-in capital increase since April. The initial plan was to issue 9.8 million new shares at 1,279 won per share to raise a total of 12.5342 billion won. After the issue price was finalized at 688 won on the 4th, the fundraising size fell to 6.7424 billion won, about half of the original plan.
But as Thumbage suddenly and finally scrapped the offering, industry watchers are puzzled. The company cited "changes in financial conditions and market conditions due to the prolonged rights offering period" as the reason for the withdrawal.
Behind Thumbage's initial decision to pursue the offering were a cash crunch and the risk of delisting. As of the first quarter, Thumbage's cash and cash equivalents were only about 1.1 billion won. Given it posted an operating loss of 980 million won during the period, the coffers are expected to run dry soon if it fails to secure funding.
Another burden was that, starting in July, the KOSDAQ market raised the market capitalization requirement for maintaining a listing to 20 billion won. If a stock trades below the threshold for 25 consecutive trading days, it is flagged as a potential designation for issues under management, and if it fails to meet the threshold for an additional five trading days, it is designated as an issue under management. The 25th business day that Thumbage has traded below the threshold falls on this day (Aug. 6), and its current market capitalization is only 14.5 billion won. If there is no share-price rise or separate capital raising, the company is expected to be designated as an issue under management next week.
An investment banking (IB) industry source said, "Given the timetable for designation as an issue under management, if they intended to withdraw the offering, the decision should have been made earlier," adding, "The company seems to have been overly optimistic about a share-price rebound, ultimately causing confusion for shareholders."
Another source offered a different view. The source said, "In Thumbage's case, the likelihood of a paid-in capital increase succeeding was not high, and given the schedule, the risk of being designated as an issue under management—and even delisting risk—was likely to stand out before the new shares were listed," adding, "They may have decided to withdraw to protect potential new investors."
As the risk of Thumbage's delisting loomed, compensation for rights offering warrant holders who already traded in the market also emerged as an issue. From July 22 to 28, rights offering warrants related to Thumbage's paid-in capital increase were listed on the Korea Exchange (KRX), and some shareholders have already completed sales. Rights offering warrants give shareholders the right to participate in a paid-in capital increase and can be freely traded on the market. Existing shareholders who do not plan to participate can sell the warrants to cash out part of their value, while buyers of the warrants can participate in the offering on the same terms as existing shareholders.
The problem is that by scrapping the plan a day before subscriptions, investors who bought rights offering warrants on the market could lose those rights entirely. If a company withdraws a paid-in capital increase, rights from already traded rights offering warrants lapse.
In contrast, some other companies that withdrew shareholder-allotted offerings provided compensation to rights offering warrant investors. For example, KOSDAQ-listed EOFlow(294090) announced a compensation plan via a separate notice after withdrawing a paid-in capital increase in 2024. In addition, T'way Air and Medytox(086900) went through similar processes and offered separate compensation plans to rights offering warrant investors.
Thumbage, however, has yet to present any plan to compensate investors. ChosunBiz tried to contact Thumbage to ask about its future response to potential delisting and compensation for rights offering warrant investors, but was unable to reach the company.