The measures came as the 8.9 trillion-won (US$7.92 billion) proposal to take over Samsung C&T has been opposed by U.S. hedge fund Elliott Associates, which claimed that the merger is against shareholders’ interests and designed to help the leadership transfer at the family-run conglomerate. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Cheil Industries, the de facto holding company of Samsung Group, pledged Tuesday to deliver more dividends to shareholders and revamp its overall governance structure, as it seeks to convince investors ahead of a key shareholders meeting for a proposed merger with the group’s construction arm.
The measures came as the 8.9 trillion-won (US$7.92 billion) proposal to take over Samsung C&T has been opposed by U.S. hedge fund Elliott Associates, which claimed that the merger is against shareholders’ interests and designed to help the leadership transfer at the family-run conglomerate.
The proposed merger, when completed, will put Lee Jay-yong, the 47-year-old son of the group’s patriarch Lee Kun-hee, at the top of the ownership structure that controls 67 affiliates spanning from electronics to finance.
The heir apparent has been virtually running the group since his father was hospitalized in May last year after suffering a heart attack.
In a closed-door investor relations session in Seoul earlier in the day, Yoon Joo-hwa, the head of Cheil’s fashion division, said: “We’ll increase the payout ratio to 30 percent. We will gradually raise the ratio considering the company’s investment.”
(Yonhap)
