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[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] Hwang Soon-tae, chairman of Samchun, bought a 5.25% stake in Taeyoung Construction.
Hwang reported to the financial authorities on the 21st that he bought 2,043,000 shares of Taeyoung Engineering & Construction from the 8th to the 15th of this month, and the current stake has increased to 5.25%. As for the purpose of holding the stake, he stated that it was a 'simple investment'. The stake disclosure means that simple investment was made only to realize profits without any intention to participate in management, and the industry believes that Hwang does not intend to engage in activism, including shareholder proposals for Taeyoung Engineering & Construction.
As Taeyoung Construction's liquidity has deteriorated recently, rumors have spread in the stock market that it will go into workout or court receivership. In fact, Taeyoung Engineering & Construction has the largest guarantee of real estate project financing (PF) compared to equity capital among major Korean construction companies. The Korea Credit Rating lowered the rating outlook from "stable" to "downward review" while maintaining Taeyoung Construction's unguaranteed bond rating at A-. Shares of Taeyoung Engineering & Construction have fallen more than 28% in the past month due to rumors of a crisis. On the same day, it also fell 1.44% to 2,745 won, the closing price.
The financial investment industry is interpreting that Hwang may have started buying low-priced stocks as Taeyoung Engineering & Construction's stock price has fallen sharply. He said in a report on the purchase of shares that the unit price per share was 2,910-3,542 won while buying shares of Taeyoung Construction in the market from the 8th to the 15th.
Hwang, who served as executive director of Samsung SDI, gained fame by buying 540,000 shares of KOSDAQ-listed Moatech in 2007 and selling 2 billion won in profits in a year.
In 2011, it acquired a 15% stake in Korea Development, which applied for a workout at the time. Hwang is also known to have made profits by betting large amounts of cash on various stocks, including acquiring more than a 5% stake in LG-based advertising companies HS Ad and DL Engineering & Construction in 2014.
AlphaBIZ 김지선(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)