Treasury-Share Buybacks 'Doubled'... Clean & Science Adds 1 Billion Won After 500 Million Won

[Financial News]  Clean & Science is accelerating its treasury-share buybacks. On the same day it completed a 500 million won buyback, it immediately decided to make an additional purchase worth 1 billion won. With the largest shareholder's side also increasing its stake through open-market purchases, both the company and the largest shareholder appear to be buying shares at the same time.
According to electronic disclosures filed with the Financial Supervisory Service on the 28th, Clean & Science's board decided that day to acquire 313,479 common shares on the open market for up to 1 billion won. The acquisition period runs from the 29th through December 28. Samsung Securities will act as the commissioned investment broker.
What makes the decision notable is that the company opted for an additional buyback on the very day it completed the previous one.
Clean & Science previously purchased 161,862 common shares on the open market for about 500 million won from the 9th through the 28th. The average acquisition price was 3,089 won per share. As a result, the company's treasury shares increased to 544,862, equivalent to 8.38% of its total shares outstanding.
If the company acquires all 313,479 shares decided on this time as planned, its treasury-share holdings will exceed 850,000 shares. On a simple calculation, that would amount to around 13% of its shares outstanding.
The largest shareholder's side also continued its moves around the same time.
Choi Jae-ho, the de facto controlling shareholder, and five specially related persons increased their combined stake from 33.98% to 35.37%, a rise of 1.39 percentage points. The increase resulted from additional open-market purchases by related parties, including Delta PDS and Jaewon Choi.
With the company and the largest shareholder's side buying shares at the same time, industry observers viewed the moves as a clearer response to recent share price trends and a stronger commitment to enhancing shareholder value. Clean & Science said the purpose of the treasury-share acquisition was "stabilizing the share price and enhancing shareholder value." However, no plan to retire the treasury shares acquired so far has been finalized.
An investment banking industry official said, "It is worth noting that, rather than making a one-off treasury-share purchase, the company moved to make an additional acquisition immediately after completing its previous purchase, doubling the amount. With the largest shareholder's side also making open-market purchases, the use of treasury shares and any additional shareholder-return policies will be worth watching going forward."


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