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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] National Pension Service (NPS) has achieved a successful exit by participating in a tender offer conducted by EQT Partners, recovering approximately KRW 265.2 billion.
According to a regulatory filing on April 1, NPS disposed of 2.21 million shares (7.28%) in Douzone Bizon through a combination of tender offer participation and open-market sales.
Of the total, 1.36 million shares were tendered in the first round of the offer, which closed on March 26 at KRW 120,000 per share. The remaining 851,467 shares were likely sold in the market during the tender period.
Market participants interpret NPS’s decision to sell part of its holdings at slightly lower market prices as a strategic move to mitigate execution risk associated with large block sales and to accelerate capital recovery.
Following the transaction, NPS reduced its stake in Douzone Bizon from 8.22% to 0.94%, effectively exiting most of its position.
NPS had increased its stake to 10.33% in July last year before gradually trimming it. The fund’s participation in the tender offer appears to have been driven by EQT’s premium pricing strategy, as the firm seeks to take the company private.
EQT Partners is currently conducting a second round of the tender offer through April 22. Having already secured an 83.10% stake through the first round and off-market purchases, EQT is aiming to reach the 92.52% threshold required for voluntary delisting.
AlphaBIZ Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
