Samsung heir Lee meets Dutch pension fund exec

Published : Jul 9, 2015 - 16:27 Updated : Jul 9, 2015 - 17:40

Top executives of South Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung Group ramped up their efforts to garner support from investors for a proposed merger deal between its two affiliates -- Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries -- ahead of a shareholder vote next week.

The group’s latest move was a meeting on Wednesday between Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jay-yong and Park Yoo-kyung, an investment adviser at Dutch pension-fund manager APG Asset Management, which owns a 0.3 percent stake in the conglomerate’s construction and trading arm Samsung C&T.

Samsung Group vice chairman Lee Jay-yong.Samsung

During the closed meeting, the two sides reportedly discussed the merger deal and ways to improve corporate governance of Samsung Group.

Park is also said to have met with Samsung C&T’s co-CEOs Choi Chi-hun and Kim Shin, and top executives of Samsung Group’s future strategy office, a department that plays core roles in making management decisions.
APG Asset Management has been serving as a dialogue channel between Samsung and around 30 foreign investors since dispute over the merger plan started in earnest last month.

The Netherlands-based pension fund operator has expressed regrets over the undervaluation of Samsung C&T’s stocks in the all-share merger deal, but said it would not fully side with Elliott Associates, a U.S. activist hedge fund and a staunch opponent to the merger plan.

Arguing that the swap ratio of one C&T share for 0.35 Cheil Industries share is inappropriate, Elliott filed two injunctions at a Seoul court to block the merger deal and Samsung C&T’s sale of treasury shares to construction firm KCC, which is expected to root for the merger. The Seoul court has rejected both injunctions.

Meanwhile, Korea’s public pension-fund operator National Pension Service, which owns an 11.21 percent stake in C&T, reportedly postponed a scheduled investment meeting Thursday at which the fund officials were anticipated to discuss whether to hand over voting rights to proxy agents.

Samsung C&T shareholders are slated to meet next Friday to vote on Cheil Industries’ merger proposal with C&T.

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