Stride Partners Launches Second Shareholder Campaign Against HPO

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Activist fund Stride Partners has launched a second shareholder campaign against the listed company HPO. Although the fund initiated its first change by passing the appointment of an audit committee member at the regular shareholders' meeting in March, it judged that there has been no visible progress in strengthening shareholder return policies since then.

On October 31, Stride Partners stated, "The promises regarding enhancement of shareholder value are not being fulfilled," and added, "We will continue to take action together with ordinary shareholders to restore corporate value."

In its first campaign, Stride Partners demanded the withdrawal of plans for a subsidiary's dual listing, disclosure of measures to enhance corporate value, strengthened investor relations, and improvements to the dividend policy. Since then, the fund has held multiple meetings with CEO Min Taekgeun, urging for more proactive shareholder return measures. In early September, it sent a letter indicating that it would resume action if there were no visible improvements.

In response, HPO announced a share cancellation on September 5, but Stride Partners assessed this as "a limited measure that only partially reflects our demands." The fund maintains that there is still insufficient direction regarding substantive return policies or mid- to long-term strategies.

Stride Partners stated, "We hope HPO will shift toward a more shareholder-friendly direction," and announced that it would continue both dialogue and oversight with the board of directors and management. The fund also added that, if necessary, it would utilize all available measures, including convening a shareholders' meeting. They emphasized, "Support from ordinary shareholders was the key driving force in the first campaign, and we believe we can once again bring about change together this time."

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