December 22, 2024

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Young Poong President Kang Seong-doo speaks at a press conference held in central Seoul Friday. (Yonhap)

Amid the intensified dispute over the management of Korea Zinc, the world’s largest zinc smelter, a Young Poong executive stressed Friday that the company was placed in a “desperate” position as its decadeslong partnership with Korea Zinc fell through.

“Young Poong was desperate enough to give away the title as the largest shareholder (of Korea Zinc) to MBK Partners," Young Poong President Kang Seong-doo said at a press conference. “(The alliance with MBK) is a desperate measure to save both Korea Zinc and Young Poong.”

On Thursday, MBK raised the tender offer price for Korea Zinc to 750,000 won ($580) per share from the previous 660,000 won. The shares closed at 711,000 won on the following day. With the raised stakes, the tender offer could cost as much as 2.27 trillion won for MBK.

“The proposal shows the confidence that (MBK and Young Poong) can make Korea Zinc an even more valuable company in the future,” Kang said. Kang is known as a key figure who led Young Poong’s coalition with MBK, a major private equity house here.

“Korea Zinc would be worth even more at the time of the resale, which could happen in 7 to 8 years, or even 10 years later,” he said. “With the premium for management control, it would not be difficult to make up for the expenses (of the tender offer).”

The market speculates that the current management of Korea Zinc, led by Chairman Choi Yun-beom, will launch a counteroffer to secure control over the company. It is reported to have reached out to global private equity funds, such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital to secure capital.

Hanwha Energy, a key affiliate of local energy-to-defense conglomerate Hanwha, is also rumored to have taken the side of Choi, though it has denied the rumor.

Meanwhile, US think tank Securing America's Future Energy, also known as SAFE, labeled the tender offer launched by MBK and Young Poong as a "hostile takeover attempt" through a recent social media post.

Mentioning China's attempt to dominate the critical mineral supply chain, it denominated MBK as a "Chinese-backed Korean private equity firm" and said its "strong ties to Beijing" should alarm the US and allied countries.

“The takeover bid coincides with a rise in China’s refined zinc imports amid reported feedstock shortages facing Chinese smelters. The implications of this move extend beyond zinc, as Korea Zinc is also developing nickel refining capacity in South Korea, potentially impacting the supply chain of multiple critical minerals,” the post read.

Yet Kang denied the speculation that the MBK and Young Poong alliance could sell Korea Zinc to the Chinese capital.

“In the presence of me and MBK Partners Vice Chairman Kim Kwang-il, Korea Zinc will not be sold to China,” Kang stressed. Kim previously announced he hopes a Korean conglomerate could acquire Korea Zinc in the future.

On Tuesday, Korea Zinc applied to the government to designate its technology as a national core technology in an attempt to fend off the potential takeover. If designated, any foreign entity seeking to acquire Korea Zinc would require government approval.

“The designation of the national core technology is irrelevant to the current tender offer on the table. If Korea Zinc’s technology deserves to be named national core technology, the government will make the designation and it would be difficult to sell the company to a foreign entity.

"But it is premature to discuss the sale of Korea Zinc. We have not even secured (control over) it,” Kang said.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)