MBK-Young Poong, Korea Zinc chair meet for talks

(Yonhap)

As the dispute over management control of Korea Zinc Inc. continues, MBK Partners-Young Poong Group and Korea Zinc chairman Choi Yoon-beom reportedly sat down for last-minute negotiations to reach a compromise before the Monday deadline for MBK Partners’ proposed takeover bid.

According to industry sources on Sunday, Choi, Young Poong Group advisor Chang Hyung-jin and MBK Partners vice chairman Kim Kwang-il held a meeting on Saturday mediated by a senior government official.

At the meeting, which took place shortly after Chang returned from a business trip to Japan, both sides made a last-minute attempt to negotiate a compromise under the mediation of a senior government official. Although the meeting reportedly ended in a deadlock due to significant differences on key issues, the fact that key parties met is likely to attract market attention.

Choi raised the offer price for Korea Zinc’s share buyback to 890,000 won ($658.53) per share on Friday while also increasing the purchase volume by 2 percentage points to 20 percent.