[Edaily Reporter KIM SAE-MI ] DENTIUM(145720)has gained the upper hand in its legal battle with the activist fund Align Partners Asset Management. This follows the court’s dismissal of a preliminary injunction request filed by Align Partners seeking to suspend the duties of outside director Kim Hee-taek, who was appointed at the regular shareholders’ meeting last March.

DENTIUM announced on the 13th that the Suwon District Court had dismissed all applications for a preliminary injunction to suspend duties filed by Align Partners Asset Management, SamsungSecurities, and Align Partners Korea Fund ELP Corp. on the 12th. The court also ordered the applicants to bear the litigation costs.

This dispute arose after candidate Kim Hee-taek was elected as an outside director—who would also serve as a member of the Audit Committee—at DENTIUM’s annual general meeting held on March 31. At the time, DENTIUM’s candidate Kim and Align’s candidate Yoon Mu-young faced off in a vote, with Kim being elected by a narrow margin.

Align subsequently claimed that there were issues with the handling of proxy votes and the vote-counting process, and on May 22, filed a lawsuit against DENTIUM seeking to annul the resolution appointing Kim as an outside director. On June 1, Align filed a motion for a preliminary injunction requesting that Kim be barred from performing his duties as an outside director until the final judgment in the main case is rendered.

The court rejected Align’s claims regarding this preliminary injunction. The court determined that the shareholders’ meeting in question was conducted in the presence of an inspector appointed by the court and that no legal violations were found. Regarding some of the proxy statements that Align had raised concerns about, the court found that the evidence submitted was insufficient to sufficiently demonstrate forgery or fraud.

The court also acknowledged that it was not particularly unusual for the company not to have requested the shareholder’s identification card or seal registration certificate upon receiving the proxy forms. While acknowledging the possibility of some irregularities in the vote-counting process, the court concluded that if these were corrected and the procedure repeated, the same resolution would likely be passed. The court further stated that no urgent circumstances had been identified that would cause irreparable harm to the company or its shareholders if Director Kim’s duties were not immediately suspended.

With this decision, Outside Director Kim will be able to continue performing his duties even while the main lawsuit is pending.

However, the main lawsuit filed by Align to annul the general shareholders’ meeting resolution has not yet concluded. In the main lawsuit, the court will separately determine whether to annul the resolution to appoint Kim Hee-taek as an outside director—Agenda Item No. 3-1 of the March general shareholders’ meeting.

Nevertheless, the company’s analysis indicates that this preliminary injunction decision contains several points favorable to DENTIUM. This is because the court did not merely find that there was no urgency warranting a suspension of duties; it also examined key issues disputed by both sides—including the legality of the shareholders’ meeting procedures, allegations of forgery and fraud regarding proxy statements, and flaws in the vote tally—and determined that Align’s claims had not been sufficiently substantiated.

A DENTIUM official stated, “The company respects the court’s decision and will continue to comply with relevant laws and procedures while operating the board of directors transparently,” adding, “We will focus on enhancing shareholder rights and corporate value, while also responding diligently to the main lawsuit currently being pursued against DENTIUM by the activist fund.”