Samsung C&T vows to create synergy, listen to shareholders

Top executives of Samsung C&T Corp., the merged entity of two key units of Samsung Group, said Wednesday they will strive to create synergy by integrating different businesses, as the group's de facto holding firm began operating early this week.
  

Samsung C&T, the newly created entity through a merger between a construction and fashion unit of the same name and Cheil Industries Inc., was officially launched Tuesday, after a tough battle with a U.S. hedge fund that opposed the move.
  

"We thank everyone, including shareholders, for supporting us over the past months," said Choi Chi-hun, who heads Samsung C&T's construction unit. "We will make efforts to create synergies that we promised ahead of the merger." Choi was also named to head the board of directors of the new entity Wednesday.
  

The new entity currently has four chiefs, who are the respective heads of the company's construction, fashion, resort and trading units.
  

Samsung C&T also said it has decided to establish a committee tasked with bolstering communications with shareholders, which will include three experts outside the company.
  

Samsung C&T Corp. won outright shareholder approval on July 17 to merge with Cheil Industries for 8.9 trillion won ($7.5 billion).
  

The company received the go-ahead after two months of an uphill battle with Elliott Associates, which sought to block the move, claiming that the terms of the merger undermined shareholder value.
 
  
The launch of the new Samsung C&T is considered a significant step forward for the controlling Lee family since it supports the generational leadership transfer to Lee Jae-yong, the only son of the group's patriarch Lee Kun-hee.
  

The 47-year-old scion is the largest shareholder in the new entity with a 16.5 percent stake, while his two sisters, Boo-jin and Seo-hyun, each hold 5.5 percent.
  

Samsung has been streamlining its structure through a slew of big shake-ups of group affiliates after the senior Lee suffered a heart attack last May and has been bedridden since. (Yonhap)