This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:24 p.m. on Sept. 10, 2026.
The acquisition of KOSDAQ-listed DSK(109740)(DSK) by private equity fund (PEF) manager Yunjin Partners is running into difficulties. After signing the deal last year, it failed to raise funds and postponed the balance payment for more than a year, and this time even talks to extend the balance payment date are delayed. With the balance payment delayed, the possibility of forfeiting the deposit is being raised, and as DSK's share price has fallen sharply over the past year, some say normalizing the corporation's value will not be easy even if the acquisition succeeds.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry and the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 10th, Yunjin Partners did not pay the 66,646,364,000 won balance for purchasing DSK's existing shares by the 9th. Although the parties had previously agreed multiple times to postpone the payment date after failing to prepare the balance, this time even a future balance payment date has not been set.
In Aug. last year, Yunjin Partners, together with Gibro Partners and WH Partners, signed a contract to acquire 11,075,440 shares (43.1%) of DSK held by Synergy Innovation, the largest shareholder of DSK, for 81,596,364,000 won. The purchase price works out to 7,367 won per share. Yunjin Partners was set to secure 25.4% equity in DSK and become the new largest shareholder.
But the DSK acquisition has struggled to reach a conclusion. A strategic investor (SI) that had pledged to provide more than half of the acquisition funds pulled out, putting funding on alert. In fact, after paying a 6.7 billion won deposit, Yunjin Partners postponed the balance payment nine times.
During this process, the deal terms have shifted against Yunjin Partners. In exchange for delaying the balance payment, it paid additional deposits of 5 billion won and 4 billion won in two rounds. Including the initial deposit, the amount sunk into deposits for this deal totals 15.7 billion won. Because the deposit can be forfeited if the DSK acquisition is not completed, Yunjin Partners' risk has grown. On Mar. 31, the per-share price even rose to 7,435 won from 7,367 won, increasing the total transaction amount by 750 million won to 82,346,360,000 won from about 81.6 billion won.
External conditions are also tough. DSK's share price, which was in the 7,000-won range at the time of the initial contract, has kept falling recently and dropped into the 4,000-won range. The per-share transaction amount was initially set at market price without a management premium, but now, due to the decline, the deal is being done at about an 80% premium to market price.
Earnings at Protocs, a DSK subsidiary that Yunjin Partners valued highly, also remain uncertain. Protocs received domestic approval in Nov. last year for "Protocsin," a botulinum toxin product. It plans to target overseas markets through Protocsin. However, Protocs recorded a net loss of 5.4 billion won in the first half of this year.
Although Yunjin Partners' balance payment was postponed again, the situation differs from before. Until now, even after multiple balance payment failures, extensions were mutually agreed. This time, however, no agreement has been reached on a payment extension. If the extension is not granted by the extraordinary shareholders meeting scheduled for the end of this month, the deal could fall through.
In a disclosure, DSK said, "The balance payment has not been made due to the buyer's breach of contract, and accordingly the contract is scheduled to be terminated as of Sept. 30, the final deadline for the transaction closing date," adding, "However, discussions are underway following the buyer's request to extend the balance due date, and we will immediately re-disclose if there are any confirmed changes."
Industry watchers say that even if Yunjin Partners succeeds in extending the balance payment, it will be hard to close the deal unless it finds a new SI or secures outside funding.
An IB industry official said, "As the DSK acquisition drags on, it appears less attractive than at the time of the contract, making it difficult to attract investors," adding, "However, the potential forfeited deposit is so large that it will be hard for Yunjin Partners to walk away from this deal."