[THE INVESTOR] Lotte Engineering & Construction on Sept. 13 sold off its entire stake in sister firm Lotte Shopping to prevent cross-shareholding among Lotte Group affiliates as part of its plans to transform to a holding company structure.
The builder unloaded 300,019 shares, or 0.95 percent stake, in Lotte Shopping for about 65.7 billion won (US$58 million), about a 4 percent discount based on the stock’s closing price of 224,5000 won on the previous day.
The latest stake sale comes as Lotte, the nation’s fifth-largest family-run business group, is seeking to simplify its opaque web of shareholding among affiliates. Since last year, the group has reduced the number of cross-shareholding arrangements from 416 to 67.
Lotte has been under pressure to resolve its complex shareholding structure and improve governance after a public feud between founding family members that began in 2015.
By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)