Align Partners, 2nd Largest SM Shareholder, "Supports Kakao"

Lee Chang-hwan, CEO of Align Partners
[Photo by Align Partners]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Soyeon] Align Partners has declared support for the strategic partnership with Kakao, which has become the second largest shareholder of SM.

On the 8th, Align Partners stated, "From the position of trusting and supporting SM management's commitment to enhancing shareholder value and growth strategy, we basically support the recent strategic partnership with Kakao as it is seen to help promote the SM 3.0 strategy and enhance shareholder value."

However, they emphasized, "We request SM management to publicly disclose more detailed information regarding the strategic partnership with Kakao to all shareholders by February 15."

The details Align requested for public disclosure include ▲specific investment plans for the newly raised funds and expected effects on shareholder value ▲concrete synergy creation plans through the strategic partnership with Kakao and expected effects on shareholder value ▲basic direction of governance structure reform included in the agreement announced on January 20, such as the sale of non-core assets.

Align stated, "Regarding such important decisions, it is very important that these details are clearly explained from the shareholders' perspective with specific and substantive content," adding, "We request sufficient explanation by the given deadline and will continuously demand improvements if there are any shortcomings."

Furthermore, they said, "We fully agree with and actively support the SM board’s governance structure reform plan and the SM 3.0 multi-producing strategy announced on February 3." Align added, "As stated in the January 20 agreement, we plan to support SM governance structure improvement and the SM 3.0 strategy as a friendly shareholder in the long term."