[Edaily Reporter KIM EUNG-TAE ] Edutech company i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd.(289010)is at risk of becoming the first education company to be delisted from the stock market following the government’s introduction of a delisting system related to “penny stocks.” This is due to a prolonged period of its stock price remaining below 1,000 won, caused by weakened growth prospects resulting from a declining school-age population. Some shareholders have also raised concerns that i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd.’s largest shareholder may not have shown sufficient determination to prevent the delisting, based on the way the situation was handled.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 21st, i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd. closed at 621 won, a sharp drop of 17.64% from the previous trading day. Previously, on August 13, i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd. was designated as a “monitored stock” after its closing price remained below 1,000 won for 30 consecutive trading days. If a company designated as a “monitored stock” fails to maintain a share price of 1,000 won or higher for 45 consecutive trading days within 90 days of the designation, it will be delisted. As of today, i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd. has had “zero” days meeting the 1,000-won threshold over the past 45 trading days. If the stock price remains below 1,000 won on the 22nd, the company will be unable to meet the requirement of 45 consecutive trading days at 1,000 won or higher within the remaining period, making it impossible to be removed from the watchlist and forcing it to proceed with delisting.
If i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd.’s delisting is confirmed, it will be the first education company to be delisted due to stricter delisting requirements. Amid a structural crisis facing domestic education companies due to a declining school-age population, analysts suggest that i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd. has struggled to recover its stock price because it has failed to secure clear growth drivers. The downgrading of “Artificial Intelligence Digital Textbooks” (AIDT) from the status of textbooks to that of educational materials also appears to have dealt a blow to the company. Although i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd. provided AI technology services to AIDT publishers, it was unable to find a way forward as the related business contracted.
SIGONG TECH Co.,Ltd., which is the largest shareholder of i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd., attempted to lift the stock out of penny stock status last month by launching a tender offer aimed at strengthening responsible management. However, this measure ultimately failed to boost the stock price. SIGONG TECH Co.,Ltd. had set a target of 3.6 million shares for the tender offer, but the number of shares tendered totaled only 2,650,711. As a result of the tender offer, SIGONG TECH Co.,Ltd.’s shareholding increased from 5,170,750 to 7,821,461 shares, and its ownership stake—including that of related parties—expanded to 60.9%. On September 10, when the tender offer statement was disclosed, the stock price surged 21% from the previous trading day to 1,115 won, surpassing the 1,000-won mark; however, the stock price has recently fallen back below 1,000 won, placing the company in a crisis.
Given this situation, small shareholders are increasingly voicing criticism regarding the company’s response. First, shareholders are raising concerns that the company did not attempt a stock consolidation—the most common measure to address the risk of delisting due to penny stock status. They argue that the company may have turned a blind eye to this option, even though a stock consolidation could have artificially reduced the number of shares and raised the price per share to escape penny stock status.
Controversy also arose over the tender offer price. They point out that the price per share offered by SIGONG TECH Co.,Ltd.—1,200 won—results in a corporate valuation of only 16.7 billion won when applied to the total number of issued shares (13,945,256 shares). Critics point out that this falls short of the 20 billion won market capitalization requirement for maintaining a listing on the KOSDAQ market, suggesting that the company’s primary intention was to strengthen the controlling shareholder’s influence before proceeding with delisting.
Previously, i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd. was designated as a “monitored stock” on August 4, not only due to penny stock criteria but also because it failed to meet the KOSDAQ market’s market capitalization requirement. However, since some KOSDAQ-listed companies have filed for preliminary injunctions against delisting procedures based on market capitalization criteria—and the court has granted those requests—i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd.’s subsequent delisting process following its designation as a “monitored stock” has also been suspended.
An official from i-Scream Edu Co., Ltd. stated, “We are monitoring the situation to determine our next steps.”