Yeongpung·MBK "Korea Zinc to Burn All Treasury Shares"

Declaration of an "Active Shareholder Return Policy"

Yeongpung and MBK Partners, who are conducting a tender offer for Korea Zinc, announced on the 18th that “once the tender offer aimed at strengthening the controlling shareholder's management rights is completed, we will restore the damaged shareholder value and actively implement shareholder return policies for all shareholders.”

On the same day, representatives from Yeongpung and MBK Partners emphasized, “The core of the shareholder return policy is the ‘complete cancellation’ of the repurchased treasury shares.”

Representatives from Yeongpung and MBK Partners claimed, “Since the shareholders' meeting in March, Korea Zinc has been actively purchasing treasury shares to expand the friendly shares of Chairman Choi Yoon-beom of Korea Zinc,” estimating that since May, they have bought treasury shares worth 258.8 billion KRW, equivalent to 2.4% of Korea Zinc’s shares.

They added, “It is appropriate for enhancing shareholder value to completely cancel the 2.4% of treasury shares and to also cancel all future treasury shares acquired with the remaining amount (about 290 billion KRW) from the fourth treasury share repurchase. We will actively communicate with the board of directors to this end.”

They also announced plans to strengthen the dividend policy. Representatives from Yeongpung and MBK Partners stated, “The average dividend per share over the past three years for Korea Zinc was 18,333 KRW. Yeongpung and MBK Partners plan to communicate with the board to ultimately increase the dividend to the 25,000 KRW per share range,” adding, “To dispel suspicions that Chairman Choi’s actions are for defending management rights, a position on the treasury shares worth about 550 billion KRW must be clarified.”

Meanwhile, Korea Zinc, a key affiliate of the Yeongpung Group, was founded by the late founders Jang Byung-hee and Choi Ki-ho. Currently, the Choi family manages Korea Zinc, while the Jang family manages Yeongpung Group and its electronics affiliates. Since Chairman Choi took office in 2022, a competition for acquiring shares of Korea Zinc between the two families has escalated, bringing management conflicts to the surface. On the 13th, MBK Partners and Yeongpung announced a joint tender offer to “secure stable management rights over Korea Zinc,” intensifying the dispute.