Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing, Clepsydra Capital

Sanghyun Park

I investigate special situations, pairs, and index rebalancing trades in Korea.

Korea / Special Sits, Pairs, Index Rebalancing

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Clepsydra Capital

Investigate special situations, pairs, and index rebalancing trades in Korea.

Event-Driven

SK Telecom made another surprising announcement. It just said that it would cancel 8.7M treasury shares (all of them are ordinary shares) on May 6.They represent 10.76% of the total shares and 90.61% of the current treasury shares. They are worth ₩2.64T at the last close. After this cancellation, SKT's treasury shareholding comes down to only 900,000 shares, representing a meager 1.11% of the shares outstanding.<table class="table table-striped">
<colgroup>
<col width="300">
<col width="300">
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr><td colspan="2" style="width: 723.636px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Cancellation overview (₩B)"}'>Cancellation overview</td></tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 351.818px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Shares outstanding"}'>Shares outstanding</td>
<td style="text-align: right; width: 350.909px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":80745711}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":2,"2":"#,##0"}' data-sheets-formula="=sum(R[1]C[0]:R[2]C[0])">80,745,711</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 351.818px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Treasury shares"}'>Treasury shares</td>
<td style="text-align: right; width: 350.909px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":9585568}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":2,"2":"#,##0"}' data-sheets-formula="=sum(R[1]C[0]:R[2]C[0])">9,585,568</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 351.818px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Target qty."}'>Target quantity for cancellation</td>
<td style="text-align: right; width: 350.909px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":8685568}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":2,"2":"#,##0"}' data-sheets-formula="=R[2]C[0]">8,685,568</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 351.818px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":" - % of SO"}'>- % of shares outstanding</td>
<td style="text-align: right; width: 350.909px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":0.10756692699132961}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":3,"2":"0.00%","3":1}' data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]/R[-7]C[0]">10.76%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 351.818px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":" - % of common treasury shares"}'>- % of treasury shares</td>
<td style="text-align: right; width: 350.909px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":0.9061088503049585}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":3,"2":"0.00%","3":1}' data-sheets-formula="=R[-2]C[0]/R[-6]C[0]">90.61%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 351.818px;">Shares outstanding after cancellation</td>
<td style="text-align: right; width: 350.909px;">72,060,143</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 351.818px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Treasury shares after cancellation"}'>Treasury shares after cancellation</td>
<td style="text-align: right; width: 350.909px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":900000}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":2,"2":"#,##0"}' data-sheets-formula="=R[-11]C[0]-R[-6]C[0]">900,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 351.818px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":" - % of SO"}'>- % of SO</td>
<td style="text-align: right; width: 350.909px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":3,"3":0.011146102856162849}' data-sheets-numberformat='{"1":3,"2":"0.00%","3":1}' data-sheets-formula="=R[-1]C[0]/R[-15]C[0]">1.25%</td>
</tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" style="width: 351.818px;" data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":" - % of pref"}'>Source: DART</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>Why canceling shares now?<ul>
<li>SKT's treasury shares should come in handy for an eventual merger with SK Holdings. So, the initial speculation was transferring all the treasury shares to SKT intermediary Holdco so that SK Holdings can enjoy an increased amount of voting shares in SKT Opco after a merger.</li>
<li>That means, if there is no such merger in the future, SKT's treasury shares would not be much of use. The announced split is an equity spinoff, but this isn't a typical holding company conversion requiring a post-split tender offer to move SKT Opco under SKT intermediary Holdco. That is, these treasury shares regaining voting rights for SKT Opco wouldn't mean much for the major shareholder.</li>
<li>So, keeping the treasury shares can send a wrong signal to SKT shareholders that a merger with SK Holdings may not be completely thrown away even though the management confirmed no such plan.</li>
<li>Obviously, the short-term priority is getting approval on the split from SKT shareholders, and anything that may impede it should be addressed now.</li>
</ul>

SK Telecom made another surprising announcement. It just said that it would cancel 8.7M treasury shares (all of them are ordinary shares) on May 6.They represent 10.76% of the total shares and 90.61% of the current treasury shares. They are worth ₩2.64T at the last close. After this cancellation, SKT's treasury shareholding comes down to only 900,000 shares, representing a meager 1.11% of the shares outstanding.





Cancellation overview

Shares outstanding
80,745,711


Treasury shares
9,585,568


Target quantity for cancellation
8,685,568


- % of shares outstanding
10.76%


- % of treasury shares
90.61%


Shares outstanding after cancellation
72,060,143


Treasury shares after cancellation
900,000


- % of SO
1.25%

Source: DART

Why canceling shares now?
SKT's treasury shares should come in handy for an eventual merger with SK Holdings. So, the initial speculation was transferring all the treasury shares to SKT intermediary Holdco so that SK Holdings can enjoy an increased amount of voting shares in SKT Opco after a merger.
That means, if there is no such merger in the future, SKT's treasury shares would not be much of use. The announced split is an equity spinoff, but this isn't a typical holding company conversion requiring a post-split tender offer to move SKT Opco under SKT intermediary Holdco. That is, these treasury shares regaining voting rights for SKT Opco wouldn't mean much for the major shareholder.
So, keeping the treasury shares can send a wrong signal to SKT shareholders that a merger with SK Holdings may not be completely thrown away even though the management confirmed no such plan.
Obviously, the short-term priority is getting approval on the split from SKT shareholders, and anything that may impede it should be addressed now.


SK Telecom Share Cancellation: Why Doing It Now & Potential Impacts