[At a Crossroads: Listed Companies]① Soribada, Management Dispute... "J.Mason Proceeding with Sole Capital Increase"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] A management dispute has erupted at Soribada, a company providing music streaming and multimedia content. The existing management proceeded with a paid-in capital increase without the consent of Joongbu Corporation, the new largest shareholder.

There are also claims that the official seal of a director from Joongbu Corporation was forged during this process, which is expected to cause repercussions.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure on the 10th, Soribada announced that a provisional injunction lawsuit was filed the previous day to suspend the duties of directors including CEO Son Jihyun, internal directors Noh Yujin, Jo Hogyeon, Hwang Jonggeun, and outside directors Kim Jiseok, Choi Gyubeom, and Jo Seohyun.

Additionally, on the 8th, Joongbu Corporation filed a lawsuit for a provisional injunction to prohibit the issuance of new shares related to a 1 billion KRW paid-in capital increase. Joongbu Corporation became the largest shareholder of Soribada in February and is a subsidiary of Korea Corporation.

Earlier, Soribada decided on a 1 billion KRW third-party allotment paid-in capital increase on the 2nd. The number of shares allocated was 1,998,000, and the allottee was J-Mason, the previous largest shareholder of Soribada.

Joongbu Corporation claimed that this paid-in capital increase was resolved by J-Mason's management without Joongbu Corporation's consent.

In fact, the minutes of the board meeting related to this paid-in capital increase show that 7 out of 12 directors agreed to the capital increase. However, the 3 directors appointed by Joongbu Corporation in March were excluded.

Among the 7 directors who agreed to the capital increase, one outside director, Lee, is affiliated with Joongbu Corporation. Joongbu Corporation claims that Director Lee never agreed and that the existing management arbitrarily affixed his seal on the minutes.

In response, J-Mason stated, "The paid-in capital increase was conducted following formal board procedures."

Previously, on February 4th, Joongbu Corporation became the largest shareholder by acquiring 12,053,571 shares (12.83%) of Soribada through a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase worth 8.1 billion KRW. The previous largest shareholder, J-Mason, holding 5,923,832 shares, saw its stake decrease to 6.31%.

However, even after the change in the largest shareholder, J-Mason's management issued convertible bonds (CB) targeting J-Mason. Currently, the convertible amount corresponds to 1,121,076 shares at the conversion price. Additionally, existing convertible bonds worth 11.1 billion KRW were also converted into shares, totaling 15,281,150 shares.

J-Mason stated, "The convertible bonds were converted at the discretion of the asset management company that acquired them."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.