Samsung presidents: Samsung unit merger proposal would be passed

Presidents of Samsung Group appealed to shareholders for last-minute support, being confident that the proposal on the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries would be passed in a general shareholders’ meeting due on Friday. When asked about the prospect of the meeting, Kim Shin, president of the trading division of Samsung C&T, said right after a meeting of presidents of Samsung which was held at the Samsung Seocho Town on Wednesday, “I am pretty sure that we would beat [U.S. hedge fund Elliot Associates.”

As for the attendance rate of the shareholders’ meeting, Mr Kim said, “it historically averaged about 65 percent but this time it could be higher than that.” He added, “we’re striving to have the merger plan be granted in the shareholders’ meeting in any case.”

He went on to say, “each ballot from shareholders does count and we earnestly ask shareholders to vote in favor of the merger, as we would orient the combined entity’s management towards improving the shareholder value in the long term.”

Cheil Industries President Kim Bong-young stressed, “I believe the National Pension Service (NPS) would have made a wise decision and hope that others would also make a sensible decision and there is no Plan B.” Samsung Securities President Yoon Yong-am saw the shareholders’ meeting as the ‘first battle’ with Elliot, saying, “we have to beat Elliot by a wide margin to take the upper hand to move forward.”

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