[Edaily Reporter KIM SAE-MI ] Seegene Inc.(096530)is set to carry out a large-scale cancellation of treasury stock, accounting for more than 10% of its outstanding shares. The cancellation will cover the entire portfolio of approximately 5.49 million treasury shares currently held by the company, amounting to approximately 173.7 billion won based on book value.

Seegene Inc. announced on the 12th that it has decided to cancel 5,491,592 common shares. The scheduled cancellation date is the 31st of this month.

This cancellation represents approximately 10.52% of the current total issued shares of 52,225,994. Once the cancellation is complete, Seegene Inc.’s total issued shares will decrease to 46,734,402.

The estimated cost of the cancellation is 173.7 billion won. This figure represents the book value calculated based on the average acquisition price of 31,636 won per share for treasury stock previously acquired by Seegene Inc., within the scope of distributable earnings. Since this involves eliminating treasury stock already acquired and held, no new cash expenditure of 173.7 billion won will occur during this cancellation process.

Seegene Inc. stated that the purpose of this decision is to enhance shareholder value. The cancellation of treasury stock is a method of reducing the total number of issued shares by eliminating the company’s holdings of its own stock.

This cancellation involves the cancellation of treasury stock acquired from distributable earnings through a board resolution in accordance with the Commercial Act. Consequently, while the total number of issued shares will decrease, the company’s capital will remain unchanged.