[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyung-il ] The largest shareholder of PPI. INC(062970)has changed from Satoshi Holdings to the Nakamoto Investment Partnership. The person who effectively controls the new largest shareholder, the Nakamoto Investment Partnership, is Kim Byung-jin, CEO of Flake. CEO Kim Byung-jin has invested 100% of the capital in the Nakamoto Investment Partnership. He currently serves as CEO of Flake and also as a director of KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on the 27th, viewed simply, this change in the largest shareholder means that CEO Kim Byung-jin has secured management control of KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS through the investment fund and the company he leads. The previous largest shareholder was Satoshi Holdings. The Nakamoto Investment Fund, 100% owned by CEO Kim Byung-jin, purchased 2,214,710 shares (7.75%) of KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS held by Satoshi Holdings. Another 1,251,346 shares (4.38%) were acquired by Flake, a company where CEO Kim serves as CEO. Combined, the stakes acquired from Satoshi Holdings by these two companies total 12.13%. The transaction involved approximately 10.5 billion won. As a result, the largest shareholder of KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS has shifted from Satoshi Holdings to CEO Kim’s group.
This is not the first time CEO Kim has been linked to KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS. Last year, KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS purchased 4 billion won worth of convertible bonds (CBs) issued by Satoshi Holdings, which was the largest shareholder at the time.
However, these convertible bonds acquired by KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS were subsequently transferred to Flake—a company where CEO Kim served as CEO—in December of last year. This time, the situation has reversed. The Nakamoto Investment Fund, in which CEO Kim is an investor, and Flake—where CEO Kim serves as CEO—purchased the KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS shares held by Satoshi Holdings. Consequently, CEO Kim’s group has become the largest shareholder of KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS.
This situation is further complicated by a convertible bond transaction. On the 26th, Satoshi Holdings agreed to repurchase 6.8 billion won worth of convertible bonds held by the Nakamoto Investment Fund before their maturity date. The actual purchase price was approximately 6.7 billion won, leaving 700 million won worth of convertible bonds remaining after the transaction. Consequently, there has been a series of share and convertible bond transactions surrounding KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS, following the chain: “Satoshi Holdings → KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS → Flake → Nakamoto Investment Consortium.” However, the specific purposes behind each of these transactions have not yet been clearly explained.
KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS faces a challenging situation. The company has posted operating losses for three consecutive years and also reported a loss in the first half of this year. Recently, it even conducted a paid-in capital increase to secure funds. In contrast, the majority of its shareholders are small shareholders. As of the end of June, 49,103 out of a total of 49,108 shareholders were small shareholders. Small shareholders hold 87.86% of the total shares. As a result, market attention is expected to focus on how CEO Kim Byung-jin will transform KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS.
Now that he has secured management control of a loss-making company, the key question is whether he can stabilize the optical communications business and improve financial performance. At the same time, it is necessary to determine the purpose behind the convertible bond (CB) transactions that have been ongoing since last year and this recent change in the largest shareholder.
Following the change in the largest shareholder, the Korea Exchange suspended trading of KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS’ shares starting on the 27th to verify whether a backdoor listing had occurred. We contacted Flake to inquire about the reasons for the change in the largest shareholder, future management plans, and the process of past convertible bond transactions, but they did not provide specific answers. We also attempted to contact KOREA ADVANCED MATERIALS but were unable to reach them.