Court Issues Injunction Against KDB to Prevent Disposal of WCP CB

Ebest-BEV New Technology Association Injunction Lawsuit Granted Decision

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Jeong-su] The court has issued a provisional injunction prohibiting the Korea Development Bank (KDB) from disposing of the convertible bonds (CB) related to the WCP CB sales contract.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 19th, the 51st Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Ko Hong-seok) decided on the 18th to grant the provisional injunction requested by the Ebest-BEV consortium against KDB, prohibiting the disposal of WCP CB.

The court stated that there are reasonable grounds for Ebest consortium's request for a provisional injunction to prohibit the disposal of CB, ordering KDB not to transfer, pledge, or engage in any other disposal acts regarding the CB.

Last month, the Ebest consortium signed a WCP CB sales contract worth approximately 80 billion KRW with KDB and paid a contract deposit of 6 billion KRW. However, WCP designated the Kiwoom Capital consortium as the agent for the exercise of the preemptive purchase right and exercised this right, leading KDB to demand the cancellation of the existing contract from the Ebest consortium two days before the transaction was to be completed.

In response, the Ebest consortium argued that the condition of non-exercise of the preemptive purchase right is not a precedent condition for the seller according to the contract agreed with KDB, and therefore, regardless of whether the preemptive purchase right is exercised, the seller's obligation to deliver the bonds continues. Based on this, they have not accepted KDB's demand to cancel the contract.

The Ebest consortium stated, "The preemptive purchase right is a right that is not exercised without special reasons such as securing shares by management or major shareholders, and this time it was exercised without any reason or justification for designating a third party, which has led to various speculations." They added, "We hope that the sales contract between KDB and the Ebest consortium will be smoothly concluded before the controversy grows further following this court ruling."