MBK: "All Key Executives in Goryeo Ayun Investment Are Domestic Nationals"

"Stop the Foreigners Frame"

MBK Partners has expressed strong opposition, stating that the unfounded 'foreigner frame' imposed by Choi Yoon-beom, chairman of Korea Zinc, has gone too far.

On the 20th, MBK released a statement saying, "MBK Partners LLC, the entity participating in the Korea Zinc tender offer and investing, is a domestic corporation," and added, "Vice Chairmen Yoon Jong-ha and Kim Kwang-il, who are Korean nationals, are the joint largest shareholders based on voting rights."

Korea Zinc, which is undergoing a management rights dispute, held an emergency board meeting at its headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul on October 30. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

Earlier, Korea Zinc stated, "As a national key industry holding national core technologies and advanced strategic technologies, Korea Zinc is making every effort to prevent speculative predatory capital, mostly composed of foreign capital including from China, and MBK?whose chairman, CEO, and major shareholders are all known to be foreigners?from taking control."

MBK argued, "Most of the individuals referred to by Chairman Choi's side as 'foreign executives' belong to MBK Partners' Hong Kong office and are personnel in the 'Special Situations' division, not the 'Buyout' division that invests in Korea Zinc," adding, "They are unrelated to the Korea Zinc investment and cannot exert any influence."

Furthermore, MBK stated, "The Investment Committee, which makes the final investment decision, consists of 11 partners (7 Koreans and 4 foreigners), including Chairman Kim Byung-joo, and decisions are made through voting," emphasizing, "Chairman Kim cannot exert dominant influence over the Investment Committee's decisions."

Meanwhile, the shareholder register of Korea Zinc, which is used to exercise voting rights at the extraordinary general meeting scheduled for the 23rd of next month, was closed today. Korea Corporate Investment Holdings, a special purpose company (SPC) of MBK, recently acquired a 1.13% stake in Korea Zinc through discretionary trading (CD), securing a 46.7% stake based on voting rights.