What do you think?
Rate this book
Smoke Screen: The Battle against $10B Tobacco
“Flashlight Capital vs. KT&G was one of the fiercest activism battles I witnessed over the past 20 years." Cas Sydorowitz (Global CEO of Georgeson)
Flashlight Capital Partners, founded by the former Korea head of The Carlyle Group, launches an audacious activist campaign against KT&G, a $10 billion tobacco giant in Korea. Beneath the surface of this deeply undervalued stock lies a tangled web of characters determined to suppress its price, ridiculing the 14 million retail investors who have entrusted their hard-earned savings to the Korean stock market.
In this captivating narrative, a mere 0.4% stake sparks a high-stakes battle, exposing complacency, hidden agendas, and questionable incentives. Kevin Kim delivers a masterful, character-driven story, weaving sharp irony with twisted truths. With an underdog hero ill-equipped for the big fight and villains almost too outrageous to believe, Kim illuminates the shadowy corners of the world’s 12th largest economy in a tale as gripping as it is unsettling.
“Readers will be shocked... As Barbarians at the Gate showed how much money was left on the table before America's private-equity revolution of the 1980s, Smoke Screen is a case study in the value that Korean conglomerates hold for investors willing to ask tough questions and fight against vested interests… It is a call to action.”
- Deane McRobbie (CTFN)
Flashlight Capital Partners, founded by the former Korea head of The Carlyle Group, launches an audacious activist campaign against KT&G, a $10 billion tobacco giant in Korea. Beneath the surface of this deeply undervalued stock lies a tangled web of characters determined to suppress its price, ridiculing the 14 million retail investors who have entrusted their hard-earned savings to the Korean stock market.
In this captivating narrative, a mere 0.4% stake sparks a high-stakes battle, exposing complacency, hidden agendas, and questionable incentives. Kevin Kim delivers a masterful, character-driven story, weaving sharp irony with twisted truths. With an underdog hero ill-equipped for the big fight and villains almost too outrageous to believe, Kim illuminates the shadowy corners of the world’s 12th largest economy in a tale as gripping as it is unsettling.
“Readers will be shocked... As Barbarians at the Gate showed how much money was left on the table before America's private-equity revolution of the 1980s, Smoke Screen is a case study in the value that Korean conglomerates hold for investors willing to ask tough questions and fight against vested interests… It is a call to action.”
- Deane McRobbie (CTFN)
Kindle Edition
Published February 5, 2025
1 person is currently reading
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.