Truston Asset Management pushed back head-on against Taekwang Industrial's position that claimed interference with business restructuring and an unlawful demand to prop up the stock price.
Truston Asset Management on the 8th refuted key claims raised by Taekwang Industrial in a statement. In response to Taekwang Industrial's claim that the demand for a tender offer at 2 million won per share was an "irrational and unlawful demand to prop up the stock price," it said the party that first requested a share repurchase was Taekwang Industrial's management.
At the time, Taekwang Industrial's management lamented the difficulty of buying back and canceling treasury shares in the market and asked for an acceptable alternative, and Truston said it proposed a tender offer in a letter last March.
Truston explained that the proposed tender offer price of 2 million won per share was also an estimate of fair value (around 0.4 times PBR) derived by analogously applying the supplemental valuation method for unlisted shares under the Inheritance and gift tax act. The figure was calculated when the share price was only 0.14 times net worth, and Truston added that it made clear it would not participate in the tender offer and would not engage in prior transactions.
Truston Asset Management also addressed Taekwang Industrial's move to label this as greenmail and file a petition with the Financial Supervisory Service in July last year, saying, "We have not received any inquiry or contact from the Financial Supervisory Service even after a year."
It also said Taekwang Industrial's claim that Truston continuously disrupted business restructuring was not true. Truston said it expressed opposition only to one issuance of EB tied to treasury shares and never opposed any corporate acquisitions such as Aekyung Industrial Co. or Dongsung Bio Pharm. It said it voted in favor of the articles amendment to "add business purposes" at the extraordinary shareholders meeting in Oct. last year and the regular shareholders meeting in Mar. 2026, and this Mar. agenda passed with 97.7% approval. Responding to criticism that it shifts responsibility for investment losses to the company, Truston said, "Investment failure is indeed the responsibility of the investor, but we have never asked Taekwang Industrial to make up for losses."
Truston Asset Management also raised an issue with the existence of a "management support council," which is not specified in the articles of incorporation or the business report. It said Taekwang Industrial effectively acknowledged through its own press release that the body is involved in decision-making, which runs counter to its claim of independent board resolutions.
A Truston Asset Management official said, "Answering a demand to change a structure where shareholders incur losses by saying 'losses are the investor's responsibility' shows how the company views shareholder value," and added, "Depending on the content of Taekwang Industrial's board's reply letter, we plan to decide whether to exercise shareholder rights, including a request to convene an extraordinary shareholders meeting."