[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Seoul, South Korea — July 28, 2025 — Taekwang Industrial Co., Ltd. announced that it has filed a formal petition with the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), accusing Truston Asset Management of engaging in “greenmail” by pressuring the company to conduct a high-priced tender offer and then selling shares ahead of a key market disclosure.



According to Taekwang Industrial, Truston sent shareholder letters in February and March 2025 urging the company to sell major assets and repurchase approximately ₩180 billion worth of its own shares at ₩2 million per share — more than three times the prevailing market price of ₩621,000 on February 3. 

 

 

Taekwang rejected the proposal after a legal review, warning that such a transaction could temporarily inflate the share price before triggering a sharp decline, potentially leading to allegations of market manipulation and investigations by regulators and prosecutors. 

 

 

The company also noted that a buyback of that scale could drastically reduce the number of shares in circulation, lowering trading volume and ultimately risking delisting from the exchange.



Taekwang Industrial characterized Truston’s tactics as a textbook case of greenmail — an investment scheme in which shareholders accumulate stock and pressure a company to repurchase it at an inflated price for profit. 

 

 

On February 3, Truston held 67,669 shares of Taekwang Industrial. If the company had accepted Truston’s demand for a ₩2 million buyback price, the value of those holdings would have surged from ₩42 billion to ₩135.3 billion, giving Truston a windfall gain of ₩93.3 billion.



The company said it has asked the Financial Supervisory Service to fully investigate the matter, calling the actions “an illegal and coercive attempt that undermines market order.”

 

 

 

 

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