Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae expressed regret over the financial investors(FI)' announcement of an arbitration application to implement the put option and suggested that the negotiations continue.
Kyobo Life Insurance said on March 17 that Chairman Shin conveyed his position through his legal representative that he earnestly asks the FIs to engage in negotiations over withdrawal of investment once again.
Chairman Shin has been negotiating with FIs who exercised their put option to collect investment since October last year. Recently, he proposed three compromises: issuing ABS, sales to third parties, and preserving profits after IPO.
The FIs notified Chairman Shin that they would request arbitration to force him to implement the put option on March 18, judging that the negotiations suggested by Chairman Shin lack concrete measures to realize such matters as equity value and payment of money.
Shin said, "The agreement between shareholders is one-sided and complex. There are some unfair points such as conflicting and confusing elements. After careful consideration, the company offered new negotiations such as issuing ABS as a desperate measure for the success of the IPO."
In 2012, Chairman Shin attracted investment from FIs for the purpose of securing friendly shares. FI invested about 1.2 trillion won and signed an agreement between shareholders that they can exercise their put option if Kyobo does not implement IPO after three years. However, when IPO was not done until last year, they made a put option of about 2 trillion won.