Samsung family members to sell 2.8tr won worth of shares in Samsung units in block deal

Chairman Lee Jae-yong (center) walks with his mother, Hong Ra-hee, on his left and one of her younger sisters, Lee Seo-hyun, on his right, at a Samsung concert hall in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province on Oct. 19, 2023. (Yonhap)

Family members of Samsung Group plan to sell nearly 2.8 trillion won ($2.12 billion) worth of their shares in Samsung Electronics and other affiliates in a block deal in an apparent bid to pay inheritance taxes, industry sources said Wednesday.

Hong Ra-hee, the mother of Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong, and her two daughters -- Hotel Shilla Co. CEO Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, chief of the Samsung Welfare Foundation -- are pushing to unload a combined 29.8 million shares worth 2.2 trillion won in Samsung Electronics, according to the sources.

The sale will be at a discount of 1.2 to 2 percent from Samsung Electronics' closing share price of 73,600 won on Wednesday. The block deal is expected to be completed before the stock market opens Thursday.

Hong plans to unload the largest amount at 19.2 million shares, or a 0.32 percent stake in Samsung Electronics, followed by Seo-hyun with 8.1 million shares, or 0.14 percent, and Boo-jin with 2.4 million shares, or 0.04 percent.

The Hotel Shilla CEO also plans to unload some of her stakes in Samsung C&T Corp., Samsung SDS Co. and Samsung Life Insurance Co. in a block deal, according to the sources.

The block sale is widely seen as aimed at paying inheritance taxes totaling 12 trillion won following the death of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee in October 2020.

Since his death, the owner group's family members have been paying their inheritance taxes in installments over a five-year span that started in April 2021. (Yonhap)