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Korea Zinc shares rise ahead of $1.7 bln deal deadline as battle for control heats up

Shares in Korea Zinc , the world's most significant fine-tuned zinc producer, rose on Friday, the last trading day before a due date to accept a. $ 1.7 billion tender offer from its biggest shareholder Young. Poong and personal equity firm MBK Partners.

Run by the Choi family, Korea Zinc has been in a bitter. fight for control of the $12 billion zinc empire with the. co-founding Chang household, whose electronic devices conglomerate Young. Poong made the joint offer with MBK in September.

Each side in combination with their most likely supporters holds. about a one-third stake in Korea Zinc, according to computations. by Meritz Securities, though the groups have actually declined to. comment.

Both have actually made tenders to minority investors to gain. control, with Korea Zinc on Wednesday announcing a higher offer. than the one from Young Poong and MBK.

The battle has actually gotten global attention because Korea Zinc. products basic materials for a variety of cutting-edge industries. such as semiconductors and electrical automobile batteries, as. concerns over securing supply chain control mount in the middle of. increased U.S.-China trade tensions.

Korea Zinc shares increased as much as 8.6% to a record high of. 774,000 won on Friday. They were up 6.2% at 758,000 as of 0238. GMT, above the tender deal price of 750,000 won per share. The. broader market was 0.8% greater. The outcomes of the deal. will be announced on Oct. 10 in a regulatory filing, MBK stated.

Korea Zinc's competing offer is to redeem about 2.7 trillion. won ($ 2.02 billion) of shares together with Bain Capital, which. provided to buy another 430 billion won of shares, at an optimum. price of 830,000 won per share. That deal closes on Oct. 23.

Korea Zinc, whose clients consist of metals traders Glencore. , Trafigura and Sumitomo, stated on Friday in a. regulatory filing that it would purchase shares even if the amount. disappointed its targeted stake of approximately 18%.

Young Poong has said its deal was focused on taking part in. Korea Zinc's management and improving its governance.

CORE NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

The fight for control comes at a crucial time for South. Korea, which is trying to carry out business governance reforms. to give a boost to its capital markets that have actually long been. stymied by the influence exerted by its sprawling corporations.

Minority shareholders, who owned about 27% of Korea Zinc as. of end-June according to a company filing, will play an essential. role in determining the outcome of the takeover battle. South. Korea's National Pension Service, a long-lasting financier that. holds a different 7%, did not respond to a request for discuss. its plans.

Korea Zinc last month asked the South Korean government to. designate its battery element innovation as a nationwide core. innovation that would require federal government approval for a foreign. acquisition to proceed. South Korea's market ministry is set. to hold a meeting later on Friday.

The United States and its allies are seeking to lower. dependence on China for critical metals.

There are concerns that this takeover by a venture capital. firm may be a precursor to an on-sale to bulk Chinese. interests, said Ian Satchwell, an accessory teacher at the. University of Queensland's Sustainable Minerals Institute.

MBK and Young Poong said last month they had no plans to. sell Korea Zinc to China.

A joint endeavor established by Korea Zinc and LG Chem. in South Korea is set to produce precursors, a crucial EV battery. material. Precursors produced by the joint endeavor will be utilized. in LG Chem's cathode plant in the U.S. that is slated to start. mass production in 2026 to provide EV battery cathodes to General. Motors.

(source: Reuters)