Kyobo, Affinity consortium lock horns at ICC arbitration over put option Posted : 2021-03-16 09:11 By Lee Kyung-min A five-day hearing in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration between Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman Shin Chang-jae and the company's financial investors ― represented by a consortium led by Affinity Equity Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm ― was concluded, but it will still be at least six months before a decision is made, according to market sources, Sunday. The five-day hearing from March 15 through 19 ― the second since the first one held last October ― was part of the arbitration process to determine whether the consortium can exercise a put option at nearly double the price Shin is willing to pay, concluding the outcome of a years-long dispute that dates back to 2012. A put option is a contract giving the owner the right to sell ― or sell short ― a specified amount of an underlying security at a pre-determined price within a specified time frame.