Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has unveiled a detailed plan to sell some of its stocks, including KT and POSCO Group shares, to secure funds to boost the university’s competitiveness. POSTECH’s board of directors approved the plan at a meeting held in late August, according to the university on Oct. 7.
Earlier this year, Postech announced an ambitious initiative that involves investing 1.2 trillion won ($890 million) over the next 10 years to compete with the world’s top universities.
The university aims to raise a significant portion of the funds by selling Postech’s shares in various POSCO Group companies. POSTECH held 2.17 million shares (2.81%) of POSCO Future M, 1.98 million shares (2.34%) of POSCO Holdings, 1.19 million shares (0.78%) of POSCO DX, 870,000 shares (2.07%) of POSCO E&C, and 170,000 shares (0.1%) of POSCO International as of the end of February.
The market value of the university’s available-for-sale securities is roughly 1.8791 trillion won, and the university plans to sell about 600 billion won worth of stocks to secure investment funds. The stocks slated for sale include 1,189,074 shares of POSCO DX, 177,757 shares of POSCO International, and 400,000 shares of KT. While POSTECH had previously announced its intention to sell some of its POSCO Group shares, this is the first time it has publicly disclosed plans to sell all of its KT shares.
The board of directors set the sale prices at 35,000 won for POSCO DX, 54,000 won for POSCO International, and 37,000 won for KT. As of April 4, the market prices were 29,900 won for POSCO DX, 56,200 won for POSCO International, and 39,750 won for KT. Under the Capital Market Act, stocks can be sold without further board approval if the market price falls within ±30% of the board-approved set sale price. Since the current prices of all three stocks fall within this range, they are eligible for sale.
Samsung Securities has been appointed as the lead sales manager. POSTECH and Samsung Securities plan to complete the sale by the end of February next year. POSCO International and KT shares will be sold on the market, while POSCO DX shares will be sold through a block deal (after-hours bulk trading) or in segments on the market.
If the sale proceeds as planned, POSTECH expects to raise approximately 65 billion won, including 41.6 billion won from POSCO DX, 9.2 billion won from POSCO International, and 14.8 billion won from KT. Meanwhile, Postech’s most valuable holdings—POSCO Future M and POSCO Holdings—will be sold separately later.
