New Samsung C&T takes No. 4 spot on Seoul bourse

Shares of Samsung C&T Corp., the merged entity of two key Samsung units, posted a modest gain on the first trading day under the new name on Tuesday, taking the fourth spot on the Seoul bourse in terms of market value.

Shares of Samsung C&T closed at 163,000 won ($137.40), up 2.84 percent from the previous session's close. The benchmark KOSPI gained 0.32 percent.

Its market capitalization stood at 30.9 trillion won, coming after Samsung Electronics Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and Korea Electric Power Corp., the state-run power provider.

The relisting marked the end of the 8.9 trillion-won merger between the group's de facto holding firm Cheil Industries Inc. and Samsung C&T Corp., a construction and trading unit, after repelling a slew of legal challenges from a U.S. hedge fund that opposed the merger and garnering shareholder approval.

Samsung C&T has been suspended from trading for a month, while Cheil Industries, an apparel and resort subsidiary, continued trading in the meantime.

The launch of the new Samsung C&T is considered by market watchers a significant step forward for the controlling Lee family since it will give a boost to 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, with his two sisters, Boo-jin and Seo-hyun, each holding 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.

The new Samsung C&T, with 12,500 employees, is headed by four chief executives in charge of each division -- construction, trading, fashion and resort -- for the time being, the company earlier said. (Yonhap)