Benoholdings "No Issues Expected in Progressing Bio Business"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Beno Holdings announced on the 25th that there will be no issues in proceeding with its bio business.

In August, Beno Holdings completed the acquisition process by securing management rights through appointing the CEO and directors of Beno Bio via a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase of Beno Bio.

A company official stated, "Since CEO Jeong Jiphoon of Beno Holdings was appointed as a registered director of Beno Bio, he, along with CEO Kim Seongwook of Beno Bio, has been sequentially advancing the business by reorganizing the roadmap for future clinical trials, technology exports, and joint research with leading domestic and international bio companies based on Beno Bio’s accumulated research achievements." He added, "Beno Holdings plans to disclose the progress of the new drug development business conducted through Beno Bio to investors as early as December."

Although there were some controversies during the acquisition process of Beno Bio, Beno Holdings maintains that there are no problems. A company representative said, "Mr. A, who was part of Beno Bio’s former management, requested Beno Holdings to purchase his existing shares in Beno Bio. However, Beno Holdings rejected the request because the principle of the acquisition structure was to make substantial capital investments in Beno Bio through new capital increases."

During the acquisition process of Beno Bio, Beno Holdings detected allegations of unfair transactions by Mr. Lee and convened an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to dismiss him. Mr. Lee claimed that there were issues with the voting process, including the proxy exercise of his voting rights at the extraordinary general meeting, and filed an injunction to suspend the effectiveness of the dismissal resolution. On the 19th, the court accepted the injunction.

Following the court’s decision, Beno Bio decided to hold a new extraordinary general meeting of shareholders and has begun procedures to re-vote on the dismissal of Mr. Lee. Currently, Beno Holdings is the largest shareholder of Beno Bio, holding 33% of the shares, and together with friendly investors including CEO Kim Seongwook, it controls about 87% of the voting rights. The company’s position is that there will be no issues in handling the dismissal agenda for Mr. Lee at the newly convened extraordinary general meeting.

CEO Jeong Jiphoon of Beno Holdings stated, “Despite the difficult economic conditions caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), we expect to continue operating profit in our existing game publishing business this year, and next year, we will further expand growth through new game launches and new drug research and development centered on Beno Bio.” He added, “Reflecting this management strategy and to enhance shareholder value, the company changed its name from Entermate to Beno Holdings through an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders held last September.”