April 19, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] The Seoul Central District Court has decided to delay its planned review of the controversial merger of two Samsung units -- Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries -- to March next year.

The court said on Dec. 8 it will wait for the results of an ongoing probe into the influence-peddling scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil. 

Prosecutors are investigating whether the nation’s big firms, including Samsung, had offered funding to two dubious foundations controlled by Choi in return for any business favors.

For Samsung which offered the largest 200 billion won, Choi is suspected of using her ties with the president to put pressure on the National Pension Service to vote in favor of the merger at a shareholders meeting in July last year.

The mega deal, a crucial step for Samsung’s owner family to wield more power over Samsung Electronics and other affiliates, was facing resistance from some individual investors led by US hedge fund Elliott Management.

The court review comes after some Samsung C&T shareholders, including Ilsung Pharmaceuticals, filed a suit in February to nullify the merger, claiming the firm should adjust the repurchase price of its shares.

Before the merger, the construction firm suggested shareholders to repurchase their shares at 57,234 won apiece.

Ilsung claimed that the price was lower than 75,000 won for which Samsung C&T sold its own 8.99 million shares to local builder KCC in June last year with aims to secure more favorable votes.

Samsung C&T had held its own shares in the form of treasury stocks, which do not have voting rights.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)