Minority Shareholder Platform HeyHolder Drives Record Shareholder Returns for Infovine

Small shareholder platform HeyHolder is regarded as the key contributor to driving shareholder return measures at InfoVine, a KOSDAQ-listed company.

On the 3rd, HeyHolder expressed its support for InfoVine's shareholder return policy through treasury stock cancellation. On the 23rd of last month, InfoVine announced a decision to acquire 370,000 common shares, approximately worth 10.3 billion KRW, as treasury stock.

HeyHolder is a small shareholder activism platform that comprehensively supports the functions necessary for small shareholders' shareholder activities and actively carries out actions aimed at resolving the Korea discount. CEO Heo Kwon of HeyHolder, formerly from a law firm specializing in corporate governance and management disputes, provides advisory services on management disputes and shareholder activism for listed companies.

The connection between HeyHolder and InfoVine originated from a provisional injunction for inspection and copying of InfoVine’s shareholder registry filed by CEO Heo Kwon in December last year.

In the same month, HeyHolder publicly posted a shareholder letter addressed to InfoVine titled “The Beginning of Steps to Enhance Shareholder Value” on its website, marking the start of full-scale shareholder activism.

In the letter, HeyHolder raised issues with InfoVine such as ▲an excessively high treasury stock ratio ▲a low stake held by the largest shareholder ▲passive dividend and investment policies ▲a backward governance structure lacking monitoring and checks on controlling shareholders, demanding shareholder return measures such as bonus shares, stock splits, and public tender offers for treasury stock.

Currently, shareholders of InfoVine who agree with and have rallied around HeyHolder’s public letter account for 15.6%, a figure close to the largest shareholder’s stake of 17.4%.

Because of this, industry insiders evaluate that HeyHolder played a significant role in InfoVine’s recent treasury stock acquisition decision.

In particular, this is the first large-scale treasury stock acquisition in eight years since 2017, and during the acquisition of treasury stock exceeding 33% of the total issued shares, InfoVine had never once stated shareholder value enhancement as the purpose of cancellation, which points to HeyHolder as the background behind this decision.

HeyHolder plans to partially revise the originally scheduled shareholder proposal regarding InfoVine’s treasury stock acquisition decision and announce it in February.

CEO Heo Kwon of HeyHolder stated, “We welcome InfoVine’s change in attitude to actively pursue shareholder return measures after previously showing some indifference to enhancing shareholder value,” adding, “Given the current situation where the market capitalization is far below net asset value, we will continue to consider ways to contribute as shareholders to create synergy effects with the company’s ongoing efforts to enhance shareholder value.”