South Korea regulator again orders Hanwha Solutions to revise share sale plan

SEOUL, May 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's financial regulator has again ordered Hanwha Solutions to revise its share sale plan, citing insufficient disclosures, the company said Friday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) previously made a similar request on April 9 over the company's plan to raise 2.4 trillion won (US$1.6 billion) through share issuance. The company reduced its share offering size to 1.8 trillion won in its revised plan. The FSS said the company's securities registration statement under its revised plan failed to meet formal requirements and contained unclear or missing information on key issues, potentially affecting investors' ability to make informed decisions. As a result, the filing has not been accepted, and its effectiveness has been suspended, it added. Hanwha Solutions, the energy solutions arm of chemicals-to-shipbuilding conglomerate Hanwha Group, said it takes the regulator's request seriously and that it will submit a revised filing reflecting feedback from shareholders and the media. The company announced the large-scale rights offering on March 26 to repay debt, drawing criticism over its decision-making process and the purpose of the capital increase. Hanwha Solutions said the move is necessary to improve its financial structure amid a slowdown in the global solar and petrochemical markets, and to prevent a potential credit rating downgrade.