Seoul Auction, Largest Shareholder Completes Acquisition of Shares Worth 500 Million Won

Lee Hojae, Chairman and largest shareholder of Seoul Auction, purchased 100,000 shares of the company in the stock market.

According to Seoul Auction on September 9, Chairman Lee bought 80,000 shares on August 25 and an additional 20,000 shares on September 3. As a result, his total holdings increased to 2,465,000 shares, raising his ownership stake to 13.87%.

Seoul Auction explained that the acquisition of additional shares by the largest shareholder expresses his commitment to responsible management and confidence in future earnings growth, while also signaling the company’s intention to enhance shareholder value.

The company has continued to deliver improved results, supported by the recent recovery in the art auction market. Seoul Auction turned to profit year-on-year in both the first and second quarters. For the first half of the year, consolidated sales reached 19.6 billion won, up 94% from the same period last year.

The upward trend in performance is expected to continue in the second half of the year, driven by premium auction strategies. Seoul Auction plans to leverage its artwork sourcing capabilities and unveil major and blue-chip works from key domestic and international artists at large-scale, offline auctions scheduled for the second half.

The company is also strengthening its financial stability alongside maximizing performance. In July, Seoul Auction fully redeemed its first series of bearer-type, non-guaranteed private exchange bonds worth 12.5 billion won ahead of maturity. By repaying these bonds early, the company removed future interest burden at maturity and reduced debt.

A company representative stated, "Since the beginning of the year, the domestic and overseas art auction markets have been rebounding. As part of our strategy of responsible management and confidence in future company growth through premium auctions, the largest shareholder purchased company shares. We will continue to proactively acquire high-value works and maximize auction results in the second half with major offline auctions ahead."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.