[Edaily Reporter Shin Ha-yeon ] KOSDAQ-listed company SILLA SG CO., LTD.(025870)is pursuing a transfer listing to KONEX due to falling below the minimum market capitalization requirement. SILLA SG CO., LTD. is a food manufacturer that produces CJ CheilJedang Corp.’s fish sausage “Max Bong.” If the transfer listing is approved, it will become the first company to move to KONEX without a liquidation sale under the newly introduced system.

According to the Korea Exchange and the financial investment industry on the 28th, SILLA SG CO., LTD. met the criteria for delisting from KOSDAQ due to a market capitalization shortfall on the 14th, and trading in its shares was suspended the following day. Prior to this, on the 11th, the company had applied to the KONEX Market Division of the Korea Exchange for preliminary consultations regarding a new listing review. Neither the liquidation trading period nor the KOSDAQ delisting procedures will proceed until the review results are finalized.

Founded in 1977, SILLA SG CO., LTD. registered on the over-the-counter market in June 1995—prior to the official launch of the KOSDAQ market in 1996—and has been traded on KOSDAQ since its inception. The company produces fish sausage and processed seafood products and operates a beef distribution business. Its flagship product is “Max Bong,” a fish sausage supplied to CJ CheilJedang Corp. As of the first half of this year, wholesale and retail meat products accounted for approximately 59% of total revenue, while food manufacturing products—such as sausages—accounted for approximately 32%.

In the case of SILLA SG CO., LTD., it is not a company that has been mired in operating losses since its listing. Last year, revenue fell to approximately 70 billion won from about 85.4 billion won the previous year, and the company posted an operating loss of approximately 1.555 billion won, slipping into the red. However, in the first half of this year, it successfully returned to profitability with revenue of approximately 37.7 billion won and an operating profit of approximately 221 million won. Although the company has posted annual operating losses in the past, these deficits did not persist for long periods. After posting losses for two consecutive years from 2007 to 2008, it returned to profitability in 2009, and following a loss in 2015, it recovered to an operating profit the following year.

The reason the company is facing delisting from KOSDAQ is its market capitalization. After being designated as a “monitored stock” for falling below a market capitalization of 20 billion won, a company faces delisting if it fails to meet the listing maintenance criteria within the specified period. As of the end of 2025, SILLA SG CO., LTD. had 4,272 minority shareholders holding 42.60% of the total issued shares. The timing for the resumption of trading in their shares is also expected to be determined based on the results of the transfer listing review.

This month, financial authorities opened a pathway for companies facing delisting due to falling short of the market capitalization threshold to transfer to KONEX without a liquidation sale, provided they meet certain financial requirements. SILLA SG CO., LTD. applied for preliminary consultation before the regulations took effect and qualifies for the transitional measures as it met the delisting criteria; having recorded operating profits in 2023 and 2024, it meets the requirements for a transfer listing. If the transfer listing is approved, it will mark the first instance of a company moving from KOSDAQ to KONEX under the new system.

Meanwhile, under the revised regulations, a preliminary consultation for transfer to KONEX must be conducted within 40 trading days from the date a company is designated as a “monitored stock” due to a market capitalization shortfall, and an application for a new listing must be submitted within three business days from the date the grounds for delisting arise; however, no formal application has been received to date. An exchange official explained, “We are currently in the preliminary consultation stage with the KONEX Market Division regarding the transfer listing,” adding, “The preliminary consultation process is being delayed.” The main procedures for a new KONEX listing will proceed after the application is received.

Market observers predict that the timeline for the first KONEX transfer listing will become clearer once the court issues its ruling on the preliminary injunctions filed by some companies that have fallen below the market capitalization threshold. Gold&S and KMPHARMACEUTICAL Co.,Ltd., both of which have been ordered to be delisted, have each filed for preliminary injunctions to suspend the designation as a managed stock and to prohibit the delisting decision, respectively; the scheduled liquidation trading procedures have been put on hold pending the court’s decision. In addition, JOOYONTECH and CS CORPORATION, which were recently designated as managed stocks, have filed for injunctions to suspend the effect of their managed stock designations and are currently in dispute with the exchange and the court.

An industry insider familiar with the exchange’s operations stated, “Given that companies filing for preliminary injunctions are appearing one after another, the exchange is likely to wait and see how the court rules on one or two cases before accelerating the review of SILLA SG CO., LTD.’s formal transfer application and its listing review,” the source explained. “Since it would be difficult to reverse the situation if the court’s ruling on the companies seeking preliminary injunctions were to be overturned after SILLA SG CO., LTD. has been transferred to KONEX, the exchange has no choice but to proceed cautiously.”