Bracing for a showdown, Young Poong partnered with MBK Partners, a Seoul-based private equity fund that manages $31 billion in investor money.
MBK was founded by the billionaire Michael ByungJu Kim, a South Korean-born, U.S.-educated financier who published a loosely-autobiographical novel in 2020 about a young banker who becomes enmeshed with powerful chaebol families.
MBK has a history of challenging South Korea’s corporate establishment, launching a takeover bid in 2023 to oust the chairman of Hankook, the parent company of South Korea’s largest tire maker. It failed to secure a controlling stake. In this case, MBK said it was brought in as a “white knight” by Young Poong.
In September, Young Poong and MBK announced a tender offer for Korea Zinc shares, sweetening its bid twice in the process. Korea Zinc, which opposed the offer, countered by buying back some of its shares, but a week later announced plans to issue new shares to investors at a much lower price.
Its stock price tumbled, infuriating shareholders and catching the attention of regulators concerned about a lack of disclosure. The company withdrew the issuance.
