Two Tender Offers in a Week—Align Partners Launches Tender for Gabia

(Seoul=Yonhap Infomax) Hak Seong Kim = Align Partners Asset Management, a leading South Korean activist fund, has launched a tender offer for shares in Gabia Co. [079940], a KOSDAQ-listed IT services company.

Align Partners Targets 10% of Gabia Shares—Set to Become Third-Largest Shareholder with 19% Stake Upon Completion

The fund has announced two tender offers within the past week, signaling an aggressive push to expand its holdings in portfolio companies.

On the 25th, Align Partners disclosed plans to acquire 10% of Gabia’s outstanding shares through a public tender offer.

The offer price is set at 33,000 won per share, representing a 20% premium over the previous day’s closing price of 27,500 won. Compared to the one-month volume-weighted average price, the premium stands at 19%. The total purchase amount is valued at 44.7 billion won ($33.5 million).

The tender offer period runs from today through December 14. If the number of shares tendered exceeds the target, purchases will be allocated on a pro-rata basis.

Align Partners previously disclosed an 8.04% stake in Gabia as of March, increasing its holding to 9.03% by the end of last month. Should the fund reach its target, its stake will rise to 19.03%, making it Gabia’s third-largest shareholder.

Gabia’s largest shareholder is CEO Kim Hong-guk and related parties, holding 25.8%. The second-largest shareholder is US-based investment firm Millie Capital Management, with a 23.96% stake.

Align Partners stated that the tender offer aims to “enhance shareholder value through activist engagement,” adding, “Following the acquisition of a significant stake, we intend to pursue dialogue with management and, if necessary, exercise legally protected shareholder rights to strengthen governance transparency, improve capital efficiency, and boost management performance.”

The fund is known for its strategy of maximizing corporate value through active shareholder engagement. Given the relatively narrow gap between the stakes of Gabia’s largest and general shareholders, Align Partners is expected to consider putting board appointments and other proposals to a shareholder vote after securing a substantial stake.

This marks Align Partners’ second tender offer announcement in a week. On November 18, the fund initiated a tender offer for A+ Asset Advisor Co. [244920], a KOSPI-listed general agency (GA) for insurance, followed by today’s move on Gabia.

Gabia provides IT services including cloud, groupware, security, domain, and hosting solutions. For the first three quarters of this year, the company posted cumulative revenue of 238.2 billion won ($178.6 million) and operating profit of 21.4 billion won ($16.1 million).

hskim@yna.co.kr

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