Former SOCAR CEO Lee Jae-woong decided to publicly purchase over 170,000 shares of SOCAR to stabilize management rights. This is seen as a measure taken with the management competition with LOTTE Rental, the second-largest shareholder, in mind.
According to the industry on the 14th, the venture capital firm operated by Lee will publicly purchase 171,429 common shares of SOCAR (0.52% equity) at 17,500 won per share from this day until the 2nd of next month.
Through this purchase, the firm aims to expand its equity to 19.72% to support the current management in operating the company more stably and to focus on enhancing SOCAR's corporate value. Currently, the firm holds 19.20% equity in SOCAR.
Including the 9.99% equity held personally by Lee and that of CEO Park Jae-wook (2.98%), as well as special relationships and friendly equity, the equity ratio of Lee's side amounts to about 45%.
LOTTE Rental, the second-largest shareholder of SOCAR, currently holds 25.7% equity. In 2022, LOTTE Rental acquired 11.81% equity from a financial investor in SOCAR, moving up to become the third-largest shareholder, and has since continuously increased its equity. As a result, there have been ongoing observations in the industry that LOTTE Rental might attempt to secure management rights in SOCAR.
In particular, attention is growing towards LOTTE Rental's future moves, as it was acquired by the private equity firm Affinity Equity Partners on the 11th of this month. LOTTE Rental operates its own vehicle-sharing service "Green Car," so the possibility of a merger with SOCAR is also being discussed in the industry.
Meanwhile, Lee, a first-generation platform entrepreneur who founded the portal "Daum" in 1995, became the CEO of SOCAR in 2018. However, he stepped down from the position when the "Tada" service faced legal restrictions in 2020.
SOCAR, the largest vehicle-sharing company in the country, recorded sales of 431.8 billion won and an operating loss of 9.8 billion won last year. Recently, as it resumed its used car sales business and improved the profitability of its vehicle-sharing service, the possibility of a rebound in performance is being anticipated.
The closing price of SOCAR on the 13th was 14,210 won.