Aju IB Investment shares fell nearly 20% in intraday trading after news that its majority owner plans a block trade, raising concerns about a large supply of shares hitting the market and a reduced controlling stake.
According to the Korea Exchange, Aju IB Investment was trading at 14,980 won as of 10:02 a.m. on Tuesday, down 3,720 won, or 19.89%, from the previous session.
Aju, the company’s largest shareholder, said in a regulatory filing the previous day that it plans to sell 8,480,178 shares of Aju IB Investment, equal to a 7% stake, through an after-hours block trade. Aju’s ownership would fall to 53.37% from 60.54%.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology is the second-largest shareholder with a 7.15% stake, and Aju would remain the largest shareholder after the sale.
The sale price was set at 18,700 won per share, with the transaction scheduled to run from May 28 to June 26, about a month. The total deal value is expected to be about 158.6 billion won.
Aju said the purpose of the transaction is to “secure strategic investment funds and support Aju IB Investment’s investments.”
Aju IB Investment was founded in 1974 as Korea Technology Advancement Co. and changed to its current name in 2008.
As South Korea’s first venture capital firm, it began expanding new-technology investments in earnest after 2001 by forming investment funds. As of the end of last year, it had cumulatively formed a total of 55 VC investment funds with 2.1523 trillion won and 11 private equity funds with 1.6889 trillion won, for a combined 3.8412 trillion won.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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