Korea stewardship code
In line with our continued commitment to the Asian markets and our dedication to fulfilling our stewardship responsibilities, we have initiated the process of registering Metrica as a participant in the Korea Stewardship Code. ... more
Value-up index announced
Korea Exchange released the details of its long-awaited Korea Value-up index.
As expected, not one non-financial holding company was included in the index, although many listed subsidiaries were. This was not a surprise to us, as we have not seen wholehearted participation in Corporate Value-up (CVU) by any of the nonfinancial holding companies with the exception of LG Corp. We expect this to change over time following pressure by investors, regulators and the stock exchange. ... more
Gentle persuasion
Korea continues to be a key focus. Foreign investors are still generally quite sceptical on the prospects for the Value-up programme, with fewer than 30% expecting it to have a meaningful impact Principal reasons are the perceived inability of the government to pass legislation due to its minority position combined with the structural impediment of an equity market dominated by majority shareholders that seemingly don’t care about share prices. ... more
Round trip, complete
It is rare to see a prominent investment theme go from zero to one hundred and back to zero again in the space of a few months. However, that is the story of Korea’s “Corporate Value Up” (CVU) initiative in 2024. ... more
A large retracement
Investors are less optimistic about the Korea Corporate Value-up program: ... more
Corporate Value-up
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) in Korea recently released the “Corporate Value-up Program”. Some highlights: ... more
One in a thousand
Unsolicited and / or hostile tender offers are rare in Asia-Pacific and particularly so in Korea - it ties with China in having the lowest proportion of such transactions (around one in a thousand according to Bloomberg); Australia by contrast has the highest with 12.8% (figure below). ... more
Metrica Partners will not tender its funds’ shares in SK Chemicals to SK Discovery
- SK Discovery’s tender offer price is very low, representing a 74% discount to net assets.
- SK Chemicals has still not adequately compensated its shareholders for the split-off of SK Bioscience. The Korean regulator has recognised how split-offs can hurt the interests of investors.
- Only a wholesale restructuring can restore the market’s trust in SK Chemicals.