Japanese investment group Nexroc says it emailed JYP Entertainment before announcing possible takeover talks, but JYP says it has no acquisition proposal, leaving a possible offer without formal terms.
Nexroc said the Oct. 21 email concerned negotiations it planned to hold. The group also told The Korea Herald it contacted JYP and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Thursday to explain its public statement. Nexroc said it had not expected scrutiny over its expression of interest.
Nexroc and SVCV announced Monday they were weighing a tender offer for 25% to 50% of JYP's outstanding shares. They floated a possible price 30% above a reference share price, while leaving the final figure and its calculation method undecided. The groups said they would send JYP a nonbinding acquisition proposal, negotiate for about 30 days, then decide whether to proceed.
The FSS said Nexroc had not contacted it after the announcement, differing from Nexroc's account of reaching out Thursday. The regulator called the public notice unusual because it came before a formal tender-offer filing. It said the missing filing made it harder to assess the prospective bidders' identities and financing, cautioned that the offer might not proceed, and said it was monitoring both groups for possible unfair trading after sharp moves in JYP shares. The FSS also warned investors of potential share-price volatility.
JYP reiterated that it had received no acquisition proposal from Nexroc. The Korea Herald reported that JYP shares rose 14% in after-hours trading Monday and more than 6% Tuesday. Wednesday's intraday trading range exceeded 4%, the newspaper reported.
Neither Nexroc nor SVCV had filed a formal tender-offer statement or announced a final price, The Korea Herald reported. The groups gave Nov. 20 as a tentative launch date.
