-- MBK Partners sweetened its unsolicited bid for control of Korea Zinc Co. by about 14%, pushing the stock to a record and valuing the world’s biggest zinc smelter at 15.5 trillion won .Waiting for the Miracle of Church-to-Housing Development
The battle for control of Korea Zinc, founded more than 50 years ago by two families, has intensified after MBK teamed up with Korea Zinc’s biggest shareholder Young Poong Corp. to launch a surprise offer this month. MBK, one of North Asia’s biggest buyout shops with $30 billion assets under management, has vowed to improve Korea Zinc’s corporate governance and its deteriorating finances.
Some of Korea Zinc’s minority shareholders, including commodities trader Trafigura Group, Hanwha Corp. and LG Chem Ltd. have raised concerns that MBK’s bid could undermine some of the strategic partnerships they have struck in recent years. But the minority shareholders have declined to say whether they would join a bidding war as speculated by the local media.Korea Zinc’s shares rose as much as 6.1% during early hours of trading, after settling at 704,000 won on Wednesday.
“Now, Choi is under pressure — he’s got just five trading days left, until the 4th of next month, to counter with a competing tender offer or some other move,” Sanghyun Park, an analyst at Clepsydra Capital, who publishes on the platform Smartkarma, wrote in a report. “MBK’s clearly aware of this whole situation, which is why they’re making a calculated bet.”