현행 주식가치평가의 법적 쟁점과 ‘공정한 가액’에 관한 연구

Qualifying shareholders disagreeing with particular corporate decisions that are stipulated under the Commercial Act and/or Capital Market and Financial Investment Service Act (“CMFISA”) may dissent and obtain payment for their shares (“appraisal remedy”), provided that the action they wish to challenge is “unlawful or fraudulent.” The dissenter is entitled to the “fair value”standard of value for their shares. This article focuses on the fair value for shareholders’ shares, and discusses how the term fair value should be interpreted. It then provides a theoretical justification for the use of Market Value as the appropriate standard for valuation. ‘Fair value’ means the value of the corporation's shares, especially,immediately before the effectuation of the corporate action to which the dissenter objects. Three calculation methods of fair value are commonly used: present value of the firm’s existing assets; the market value; and,earning value including future earning opportunities to free cash flow. The Commercial Act and CMFISA, however, suggest that “the details of determining ‘fair value’” within the broad outlines of the definition should be left to the courts. Accordingly, the Supreme Court recently held that fair value is the “normal transaction price that reflect the object exchange value (normal deal price which was reflected objective exchange validity).” At present, however, no clear case law provides an interpretation regarding the meaning of normal transaction price. This article is organized in six parts. Part Ⅱ addresses the nature and implication of stock and how it connects to the fair value for shareholders'shares. Part Ⅲ briefly reviews the three calculation methods of fair value for corporate value, and Part Ⅳ analyzes the statutes and case law governing the fair value for shareholders' shares, drawing particular attention to the difficulties posed by the Supreme Court's decisions. Finally, Part Ⅴ reviews relevant legal issues, fair value, fair issuing price, appraisal right, squeeze-out merger especially in relation to the appraisal methods for corporate value. In conclusion, this article provides a theoretical justification for the use of Market Value as the appropriate standard for valuation.