The main gate of Ssangyong Motor’s Pyeongtaek plant in Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 28th. news
“There is a person on the 80th floor (Edison EV around 80,000 won per week). Please help me.” (Internet ID: zayu****)
As the stock prices of Edison Motors affiliates plummeted day after day due to the failure to acquire Ssangyong Motor, the screams of ant investors are also growing. This is because Edison EV, a subsidiary of Edison Motors, which served as a window for securing funds to acquire Ssangyong Motor, plummeted after the share price surged nearly 60 times, causing severe losses to ant investors. However, suspicions are rising that Edison EV’s major shareholders were targeting short-term profits rather than the acquisition of Ssangyong Motor from the beginning, as it was discovered that Edison EV’s major shareholders sold a large amount of stocks during the period of the stock price surge.
After the closing of the KOSDAQ market on the 29th, the Korea Stock Exchange suspended stock trading trading by announcing that it should respond to the fact that Edison EV’s audit opinion is inappropriate. Soon after, Edison EV announced that it had received a refusal of audit opinion from an accounting firm. If a KOSDAQ listed company receives an inappropriate audit opinion, such as inappropriate, rejection of opinion, or limited scope, it is included in the subject of delisting.
Edison EV closed at 11,600 won, down 5.31% from the previous trading day. The day before it was announced that the acquisition of Ssangyong Motor was canceled, the price fell to the limit of 29.8% and closed at the lower limit of 12,250 won. Edison EV’s largest shareholder, U&I, also closed at 17,350 won, down to the price limit of 29.9% the previous day, and closed at 15,800 won, down 8.93% on the same day. In the case of Edison EV, the stock price stayed in the 1,500-won range in May of last year and soared to 82,400 won on November 12, six months after the acquisition of Ssangyong Motor began in earnest.
However, there are not many parts that cannot be regarded as a simple loss for Edison Motors investors following the failure of the takeover of Ssangyong Motor. According to the securities industry, five investment unions, including DMH, SLH, and I’m Holdings, bought a 38% stake in Edison EV held by the largest shareholder from May of last year at 1,500 to 3,000 won per share, and then sold all of them by the end of the year. In particular, as it surged to more than 10,000 won in June, a month after the purchase, it concentrated on selling two-thirds (23.8%) of its total stake for three months until August.
As a result, Edison EV’s stock price continued to decline and halved to record 6,002 won on September 8, one month later. In the process, it is analyzed that the ant investors suffered more damage as the stake in each investment association was less than 5% and the disclosure obligation was not applied. In this regard, it is reported that the Korea Exchange is investigating whether there is any unfair trade, such as the use of undisclosed information or illegal trade.
There are also widespread suspicions that Edison Motors invested 4 billion won in Edison EV, a subsidiary of Edison Motors, and stole 50 billion won. Energy Solutions, whose largest shareholder is Edison Motors CEO Young-kwon Kang, acquired Edison EV management rights in June of last year for a total of 14 billion won (10 billion won from external funds). As a result, excluding external funds of KRW 10 billion, only KRW 4 billion was invested in Energy Solutions. However, after that, Edison EV’s board of directors decided to buy 830,000 new shares of Edison Motors, an unlisted company, for 50 billion won, which caused a stir. He also bought Edison Motors shares from 3,000 won per share to 60,000 won on the grounds that Edison Motors’ electric vehicle business prospects are bright.
However, many critics in the industry point out that Edison EV, which had been in an operating loss for three years in a row at the time, was not in a position to invest in stocks in unlisted companies that were difficult to securitize. In addition, it is reported that Edison EV sold 40 billion won in the market, including convertible bonds and bonds with warrants, to raise funds for the acquisition of Ssangyong Motor. An industry official said, “We are preparing a civil lawsuit to recover the 30.5 billion won deposit paid by Edison Motors to Ssangyong Motors. said.
Kim Hyun-woo reporter 777hyunwoo@hankookilbo.com
