Stock Shock: How a Major Shareholder’s Move Rocked EcoPro EM’s Market Value

Yoon Kwan, husband of LG Welfare Foundation CEO Koo Yeon Kyung, is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at BlueRun Ventures (BRV). Some stocks saw their stock prices plummet overnight due to BRV.

On the 21st, EcoProMetry closed sharply lower on the news of BRV’s stake sale.

EcoPro EM is a company that produces precursors, the raw material for cathode materials for secondary batteries. It was listed last year and is classified as a secondary battery stock.

Around 10 AM, it was trading at $66.78, down 11.65% from the previous trading day, and closed the day at $66.12, down 12.52%.

BRV is the second largest shareholder of EcoPro EM. They sold about $150 million worth of shares through a block deal after the market closed the previous day.

A block deal is a transaction where a seller who holds a large amount of stock finds a buyer in advance to take over the shares after the market closes so that it does not affect the market.

The price was reported to be $68.22 per share.

Earlier on the 17th, 32.59% of EcoPro EM’s listed stocks, or 22,482,253 shares, were released from protective custody (six months after listing), and it was interpreted that they secured cash by disposing of them.

Koo Yeon Kyung is under suspicion of acquiring stocks using undisclosed information through her husband’s position as an investor.

According to a KBS report in February, a pharmaceutical company that develops new drugs for the treatment of rare heart diseases, received an investment of $36 million from BRV in April last year.

Following the announcement of the successful investment, the pharmaceutical company’s stock surged over 16%, and in September of that year, it jumped from $13 to $39.

The timing of Koo’s purchase of the pharmaceutical company’s stock has not been confirmed, but considering that her husband is an investor, there is suspicion that she may have purchased the stock before the investment announcement using undisclosed information.

Under the Capital Market Act, it is prohibited to use undisclosed important information for the trading of specific securities.

Upon facing these suspicions, Koo announced that she had donated the stocks she held to the LG Welfare Foundation, but it was confirmed that the foundation recently failed to reach a conclusion.

According to the minutes of the board meeting released by the LG Welfare Foundation on the 20th, it was decided to reconsider the matter.

It is presumed to be due to concerns that if they accept the stock donation while the suspicion is not resolved, they could be legally responsible in the Financial Supervisory Service’s investigation later.