The Financial Services Commission (FSSC) has once again halted Hanwha Solutions' massive shareholder capital increase plan, leading to serious disruptions in the schedule for issuing new shares. According to recent reports from financial authorities, the FSSC received a request on the 17th to revise and resubmit the contents of the securities registration statement, marking the second administrative action taken in just nine days. Authorities stated that the submitted documents failed to meet statutory formalities, contained false or missing information, or had unclear descriptions that could hinder investors' rational judgment.
As a result, the relevant securities registration statement remains unapproved, and its validity has been suspended, significantly increasing the likelihood of changes across the entire securities issuance process, including the subscription schedule. If Hanwha Solutions fails to resubmit the revised registration statement within three months from today, the capital increase plan will be deemed withdrawn. This issue throws a major variable into the company's capital raising plans, beyond mere documentation problems, simultaneously sparking market interest and concern.
Hanwha Solutions previously argued on March 26 that it needed to improve its financial structure to prevent a credit rating downgrade due to the deterioration in the global solar and chemical industries. Without sufficient communication with shareholders beforehand, it made a surprise move to announce a paid capital increase of 2.4 trillion won. In this process, it faced backlash from shareholders due to the lack of prior discussion and concerns about share price dilution from a large increase in shareholders. Even after reducing the capital increase size by 600 billion won to 1.8 trillion won in response to the FSSC's first correction request, it still failed to pass the authorities' review.
The Hanwha Solutions side stated that it is taking the FSSC's second correction request very seriously. It promised to once again deeply reflect on various criticisms and opinions raised by shareholders and the media regarding the paid capital increase plan with a humble attitude. Authorities stated they intend to prepare and submit a registration statement that can meet the correction request requirements in good faith, expressing their commitment to prioritize enhancing corporate transparency and protecting investors during this process.