'Give Back the Vice Chairman's Salary'... Celltrion and Shareholders Unite for Merger

"I Won't Take a Salary Until Stock Recovers"
Vice Chairman Ki Woo-sung Hasn't Received Pay for 19 Months
Delayed Wages to Be Paid After Merger Success

Shareholders Show Mature Support for Merger
"Expectations for a Solid Growth Foundation"

"At the request of the shareholders, Vice Chairman Ki Woo-sung has been working without receiving a salary for two years. Is it now acceptable to start paying him?"

On the 23rd, Ki Woo-sung, Vice Chairman of Celltrion, is speaking at the Celltrion extraordinary general meeting held in Songdo, Incheon.
[Photo by Lee Chun-hee]

The Celltrion extraordinary shareholders' meeting was held on the 23rd in Songdo, Incheon, to approve the merger of Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare. When the merger agenda was successfully passed with the strong support of 97% of the attending shareholders, Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jung-jin first took care of Vice Chairman Ki Woo-sung.

At the regular shareholders' meeting last March, shareholders who opposed the stock price decline strongly demanded, "Vice Chairman Ki should work for minimum wage and only receive unpaid salary retroactively once the target stock price is exceeded, demonstrating responsible management." Vice Chairman Ki accepted this stance. Accordingly, the Celltrion Performance Compensation Committee decided to recognize Vice Chairman Ki's salary as a company expense but defer full payment until the stock price reaches a certain level, with no minimum wage paid in the meantime. As a result, Vice Chairman Ki had not received any compensation for 19 months since April last year.

However, when Chairman Seo mentioned the resumption of Vice Chairman Ki's salary payment on this day, the shareholder opposition seen at last year's regular shareholders' meeting was hardly found. Attending shareholders celebrated the successful launch of the integrated Celltrion ship through the merger and applauded the payment of Vice Chairman Ki's salary.

Congratulatory flower wreaths sent by shareholders are placed in front of the Celltrion extraordinary general meeting venue held on the 23rd in Songdo, Incheon.
[Photo by Lee Chunhee]

This extraordinary shareholders' meeting showed a completely different image from the usual regular shareholders' meetings of Celltrion. As mentioned earlier, last year's regular meeting saw opposition demanding the suspension of Vice Chairman Ki's salary payment, and this year's regular meeting featured shareholders holding pickets protesting the stock price slump and criticizing Chairman Seo, who returned to the management frontline after two years, to stop the stock price decline.

However, at this extraordinary meeting, shareholders sent congratulatory flower wreaths to celebrate the U.S. approval of the new drug 'Zimpenetra' (the U.S. brand name of Remsima SC) and wished for the merger's success. There was little sign of protests outside the meeting venue regarding the stock price decline. Small shareholders actively supported the merger by placing advertisements endorsing it and launching a 'Buy One Share' campaign, quietly hoping for the merger's completion.

The meeting proceeded in a calm atmosphere. The on-site voting for the merger counted all attending shareholders' votes as default approval unless they explicitly expressed opposition. However, no shareholder expressed opposition.

On the 23rd, at the Celltrion extraordinary general meeting held in Songdo, Incheon, after the merger agenda was approved, Ki Woo-sung, Vice Chairman of Celltrion, received a congratulatory bouquet from the attending shareholders.
[Photo by Celltrion]

After the merger was approved, shareholders cheered the successful merger by presenting bouquets to the executives and emphasized the need to move forward together with the employees. Oh Yoon-seok, representative of the Celltrion Small Shareholders Alliance, said, "The first hurdle of the merger that shareholders longed for was overwhelmingly approved, and Zimpenetra received new drug approval. We have established a solid growth foundation to leap into the global top 10 companies." Another shareholder group, Seldonghaeng (Celltrion Beautiful Companion), also expressed, "We sincerely thank the company for creating the big framework of the integrated Celltrion," and added, "We earnestly hope that this shareholders' meeting will lead to stock price normalization and that the company will become a place where employees and shareholders are happy."

Chairman Seo Jung-jin also reiterated his commitment to meet these expectations. Emphasizing, "Once the merger is decided, I will break through any obstacles," he said, "I will conclude this so that it becomes a joyful festival for the shareholders. I sincerely thank the small shareholders and institutional investors who actively supported the merger." Vice Chairman Ki Woo-sung also expressed, "I feel I have been treated more than I deserve," and pledged, "I will do my best, so please continue to give active support as you have shown your love for Celltrion so far."

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