Alteogen to issue bonus shares to compensate for losses from dubious short sale

[Source: Alteogen]

Alteogen, a Korean developer of biobetters, Tuesday said it has decided to gift 0.2 bonus shares for every one common share to shareholders to compensate for the plunge in stock prices from short selling.

The company will issue 8.58 million new common shares as bonus shares to the shareholders of record on Oct. 26. The new shares will be listed on Nov. 14.

The decision aims to repair the shareholder damage caused by dubious short sale activities. The company said rumors had been intentionally spread about its license deal with a global pharmaceutical company being canceled to drive down its stock price.

The company has filed a complaint with the Financial Supervisory Service on Monday.

“We feel apologetic to the shareholders who have suffered great damage from the drop in the stock price due to short sales,” said Alteogen’s CEO Park Soon-jae denying any changes in the company’s fundamentals.

The Kosdaq-trading shares however continued to slide, losing 3 percent Tuesday to 36,500 won.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]