US: Elliott intensifies block US $8 billion merger of Samsung firms

US hedge fund Elliott ramped up a campaign to block a proposed US$8 billion merger of two Samsung Group firms on Thursday, laying out its case online a day before a court hearing on a deal seen key to a leadership succession in the family-run conglomerate.

Escalating what is already a rare case of shareholder activism in South Korea, the fund put online a 27-page paper detailing why shareholders in construction firm Samsung C&T Corp should reject the all-stock takeover offer from sister company Cheil Industries.

Elliott has already said it believes Cheil’s offer is too low, and its opposition could galvanise other investors. A South Korean court will on Friday hear the fund’s injunctions, which seek to block a July 17 C&T shareholder vote on the merger as well as C&T’s attempt to sway the vote in the deal’s favour by selling shares to ally KCC Corp.

“They are trying to show they have a strategy that could benefit not only Samsung C&T shareholders but also investors in other Samsung companies,” said Kim Sang-jo, an economics professor at Hansung University, referring to Elliott’s online document.

Full content: The Financial Times

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