South Korea court rules against Samsung in merger payout suit

The Seoul High Court decision overturned a lower court ruling that had dismissed the shareholders’ suit against the giant South Korean conglomerate. 

The merger last July saw Samsung’s de facto holding company, Cheil Industries, take over construction firm Samsung C&T in an all-stock deal worth an estimated 8.0 billion. The merger had been passionately opposed by a significant number of C&T investors, rallied by US hedge fund Elliott Associates -- the company’s second-largest single shareholder.

 Elliott had argued that the takeover wilfully undervalued the C&T share price, at an unacceptable cost to its shareholders. The High Court ruled that five shareholders who sued C&T for more money should be offered 66,602 won ( 55.92) for each C&T share they held before the merger, compared with 57,234 won offered last year.