Plan to Sell Held Shares for the First Time Since Going Public…”For Tax Payment and Other Purposes”
“No Impact on Management Rights Despite Sale and Donation”
In 2021, Coupang was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the United States. Now, for the first time since the listing, Bom Kim, the founder and chairman of Coupang’s board, has announced a plan to sell 9.7% of his shares valued at approximately 500 billion KRW.
On the 6th (local time), Coupang stated that Bom Kim plans to convert his ‘Class B’ common shares into ‘Class A’ common shares and sell up to 15 million shares. Based on the closing price of $24 per share and a KRW-USD exchange rate of 1,400, the sale amount exceeds 500 billion KRW. Besides this, he plans to donate 2 million shares to charity.
Class B common shares, which have 29 times the voting rights per share, are exclusively held by Kim. He currently holds 174,802,990 Class B shares, and he announced plans to sell and donate about 9.7% of these.
Coupang stated the reason for the sale as “to meet significant financial obligations, including tax duties,” and assured that “there will be no impact on management rights after the share sale and donation.”
The share sale process is expected to begin on the 11th and complete by August 29 next year. Kim plans to retain his position as the largest shareholder by continuing to hold the remaining 157,802,990 shares after the sale and donation and has no plans to sell additional shares at least until next year, according to Coupang.
The U.S. Securities Law requires corporate executives to pre-determine and submit the quantity and duration of shares to be sold, preventing stock trading with inside information. Following this regulation, Kim has disclosed the plan for a large-scale stock sale in advance. However, Coupang noted that specific details, such as which country will receive the tax and where the charity donations will go, have not been confirmed yet.