Korea Zinc shares surge after court clears hurdle for tender offer

YoungPoong

21/10/2024 03:42

SEOUL, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A South Korean court on Monday
rejected a legal bid to block Korea Zinc  010130.KS  from
proceeding with its tender offer to buy shares in the company,
pushing up shares in the world's biggest zinc refiner by more
than 6%.
    The South Korean company's two co-founding families have
been in a bitter battle for control of the metals giant whose
biggest shareholder Young Poong  000670.KS  joined hands with
private equity fund MBK Partners in an attempt to acquire a
controlling stake in the company in September.      
    Earlier this month, Korea Zinc, with the help of Bain
Capital, offered to buy back about 3.6 trillion won ($2.63
billion) worth of its shares to fend off what it called a
hostile takeover attempt. 
    Seoul Central District Court on Monday rejected a request by
 MBK Partners to stop Korea Zinc from making a tender offer. 
    Korea Zinc shares surged 6.2% to 875,000 won, close to the
tender offer price of 890,000 won by Korea Zinc. The offer
closes on Wednesday.
    MBK and Young Poong have secured a more than 5% stake in
Korea Zinc through their tender offer, paving the way for a
battle for boardroom control at an upcoming shareholder meeting.
 ($1 = 1,367.7700 won)

 (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin
and Jihoon Lee
Editing by Ed Davies)