Chairman wins Lotte succession battle

Shareholders of Japan-based Lotte Holdings, which controls South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate Lotte Group, voted in support of incumbent group chairman Shin Dong-bin at an extraordinary general meeting in Tokyo on Sunday.

Lotte Holdings shareholders opposed a proposal made by Shin Dong-joo, the eldest of 94-year-old Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho’s two sons, to oust his younger brother Dong-bin and his supporters from the board and to form a new leadership led by himself.

The decision, which had been widely expected, deals a conclusive blow to Shin Dong-joo’s long-running campaign against his younger brother over control over Lotte Group.

Stripped of his executive positions at the group early last year, Shin Dong-joo has been pursuing various legal and non-legal measures to regain his grip over the 100 trillion won ($83 billion) retail conglomerate.

“Lotte Holdings’ decision confirms the shareholders’ firm support for incumbent chairman Shin Dong-bin and effectively concludes the ownership dispute which was sparked by former Lotte vice chairman Shin Dong-joo,” Lotte Group said in a statement.

“We ask the former vice chairman to respect the shareholders’ decision, to stop tarnishing the group’s corporate image and to end all actions that disrupt the group’s business operations.”

In the weeks ahead of Sunday’s emergency shareholder meeting, Shin Dong-joo had proposed plans to list the holdings firm on the Japanese bourse at a value of 11 trillion won, promising to hand out its shares to all employees if he becomes the new chief.

Claiming that each share would be priced at 2.5 million won, he said he would push to disband the employee shareholders association, which holds an estimated stake of 27.8 percent in the firm, and redistribute 1,000 shares to each employee.

At the time, Lotte Group had dismissed such plans, calling them “highly unfeasible.”

Shin Dong-joo refused to accept the shareholders’ Sunday decision, announcing plans to resubmit the proposals at the June shareholder meeting through a statement released by SDJ Corp., which represents him.

The case marks the latest in a string of moves taken by Shin Dong-joo, including lawsuits and public criticisms, to challenge Lotte’s current management led by his younger brother.

The family feud erupted in January 2015, when Shin Dong-joo was ousted from his post as vice chairman of Lotte Holdings, signaling that the younger son Shin Dong-bin would become the successor of the family-controlled conglomerate.

In a move orchestrated by Shin Dong-joo, Lotte founder and former chairman Shin Kyuk-ho suddenly dismissed Shin Dong-bin from the board on July 27.

The next day, Shin Dong-bin and the board voted to remove his father from his post, relegating him to the position of honorary chairman.

Shin Dong-bin stepped up as the group's new chairman, since which Shin Dong-joo has been attempting to topple his younger brother’s leadership. 

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)