(LEAD) Young Poong loses shareholder derivative suit against Korea Zinc

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(ATTN: UPDATES with Young Poong's response, details in last 5 paras)

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Thursday ruled against Young Poong Corp. in a shareholder derivative lawsuit seeking 837 billion won (US$631 million) in damages from Korea Zinc Co. Chairman Choi Yun-beom and other company directors.

Young Poong, a major shareholder in Korea Zinc, had filed the suit in November 2024, claiming Korea Zinc's directors had inflicted losses of 837 billion won on the company by making a tender offer involving the purchase of its own shares at 890,000 won apiece, when the actual price was around 560,000 won.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled, however, that Korea Zinc's directors could not be deemed to have violated their managerial duties, citing the steps they took before proceeding with the share purchase.

It also ruled that the action did not violate the Commercial Act or the company's articles of incorporation.

In response, Young Poong and its private equity ally MBK Partners Ltd. said they would immediately appeal the ruling, seeking to restore shareholder value they said had been eroded.

"By focusing narrowly on the broad scope of directors' managerial discretion and superficial procedural compliance, this ruling overlooks the devastating, substantive harm inflicted on Korea Zinc's financial soundness and shareholder value by a share buyback tender offer solely to protect Choi's position," they said in a statement.

During a six-month battle over control of Korea Zinc that ended in March 2025, the world's largest refined zinc smelter fended off a takeover attempt by the Young Poong-MBK alliance.

During the dispute, the two sides launched competing tender offers to acquire additional shares in the company.

Young Poong currently holds a 34 percent stake in Korea Zinc, followed by Choi and related parties with 17 percent, MBK with 9 percent and Hanwha Group with 9 percent.

This composite image shows the displayed company names of Young Poong Corp. (L) and Korea Zinc Co. (Yonhap)

hague@yna.co.kr (END)

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(LEAD) Young Poong loses shareholder derivative suit against Korea Zinc

这将使谷歌能够向您展示与您的搜索匹配或相关的韩联社新闻文章。

（注意：已更新 Young Poong 的回应，详情见最后 5 段）

首尔，10 月 22 日（韩联社）——首尔一家法院周四驳回了永丰公司提起的股东衍生诉讼，该诉讼要求韩国锌业公司董事长崔允范和其他公司董事赔偿 8370 亿韩元（约合 6.31 亿美元）。

韩国锌业的主要股东永丰于 2024 年 11 月提起诉讼，声称韩国锌业的董事们通过以每股 89 万韩元的价格发起要约收购，导致公司损失 8370 亿韩元，而实际价格约为每股 56 万韩元。

然而，首尔中央地方法院裁定，不能认为韩国锌业的董事违反了他们的管理职责，理由是他们在进行股份购买之前采取了措施。

法院还裁定，该行为并未违反《商法》或公司章程。

对此，永丰集团及其私募股权合作伙伴 MBK Partners Ltd. 表示，他们将立即对该裁决提出上诉，以恢复他们所说的已被侵蚀的股东价值。

他们在声明中表示：“这项裁决狭隘地关注董事管理自由裁量权的广泛范围和表面的程序合规性，却忽略了仅仅为了保护崔的地位而进行的股票回购要约对韩国锌业的财务稳健性和股东价值造成的毁灭性实质性损害。”

在 2025 年 3 月结束的为期六个月的韩国锌业控制权争夺战中，这家全球最大的精炼锌冶炼厂击退了永丰-MBK 联盟的收购企图。

在纠纷期间，双方发起相互竞争的要约收购，以收购公司更多股份。

目前，Young Poong 持有 Korea Zinc 34% 的股份，其次是 Choi 及其关联方，持有 17% 的股份，MBK 持有 9% 的股份，韩华集团持有 9% 的股份。

这张合成图显示了永丰公司（左）和韩国锌业公司（韩联社）的名称。

hague@yna.co.kr (完)

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（导语）Young Poong 败诉韩国锌业股东衍生诉讼