Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb unloads stake in Shinyoung Securities

US-based investment adviser Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb has unloaded a 5.5 percent stake in Korea‘s brokerage house Shinyoung Securities, a regulatory filing showed Tuesday.

The New York-based firm’s sales proceeds came to 30.4 billion won ($27.6 million) following decades of transactions involving its mutual funds, according to the filing. Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb’s ownership was reduced to 2.11 percent as of December 2020, making it no longer obliged to disclose itself as a blockholder of Shinyoung.

The investor said the transactions are meant to retrieve its investment in the company that was made without the purpose of shareholder engagement, the filing showed.

Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb first emerged as a blockholder of Shinyoung Securities in October 2007, buying a 6.31 percent stake for 41.9 billion won. Its ownership of ordinary shares peaked to 7.61 percent in November 2007. The same year, Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb also invested in other Korean listed firms including drugmaker Samil Pharmaceutical and food company Nongshim Holdings.

Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, known for its flagship Sequoia Fund, was overseeing some $11 billion worth of assets as of June 2020.

Shinyoung Securities is a Seoul-based brokerage company. Its net profit came to 20.3 billion won during the fiscal year from April 2019 to March 2020, down 74 percent on-year.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)