Home   >   More   >   Hot Links   >   [Bloomberg] Korea Fund Has $18 Billion at Stake Backing Samsung on C&T

[Bloomberg] Korea Fund Has $18 Billion at Stake Backing Samsung on C&T

June 23, 2015
samsung

The NPS has stakes in at least 12 listed Samsung affiliates, according to calculations based on data compiled by Bloomberg.

[BLOOMBERG BUSINESS] — In the fight between a foreign hedge fund and the biggest conglomerate in South Korea, the state-run pension may have the swing vote. It will probably side with Samsung Group for reasons that go beyond nationalism.

Korea’s National Pension Service is the biggest shareholder in Samsung C&T Corp. with 10.15 percent of common shares, making its support vital to U.S. activist investor Paul Elliott Singer in his attempt to block a proposed takeover of the company by another Samsung affiliate, Cheil Industries Inc.

It’s a common position for South Korea’s biggest investor. The NPS is used to being caught between the competing interests of business stalwarts and minority shareholders. Its stakes in at least 12 listed Samsung affiliates, worth $17.8 billion, may force its hand on C&T because with the takeover so integral to Samsung’s once-in-a-generation leadership transition, the fund can’t evaluate the deal in isolation. [READ MORE]