Court Rules in Favor of Samsung Affiliate in 2015 Merger Damages Suit by Elliott

Photo : KBS News

A Seoul court ruled in favor of a Samsung affiliate in a suit filed by U.S.-based hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, seeking delayed interests from the 2015 merger of two Samsung units.

The Seoul Central District Court on Friday dismissed the suit filed by Elliott, which had demanded 26-point-seven billion won, or around 20 million U.S. dollars, in delayed interests.

Elliott, which had owned a seven-percent stake in Samsung C&T, opposed the firm’s merger with Cheil Industries in 2015, demanding to exercise its appraisal rights. Backed by a swing vote from the state-run National Pension Service, the controversial merger was finalized at the time.

Samsung paid Elliott 72-point-four billion won in May 2022, which is the difference between the price of 66-thousand-602 won per Samsung C&T share set by the South Korean Supreme Court and the firm’s proposed price.

Elliott, however, demanded an additional delayed interest last year, claiming it was under the terms of the two sides’ “secret agreement” in 2016.

The court on Friday, however, said it would be difficult to consider the delayed interest to be included in the amount agreed-upon by the two sides.

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