Lee Kun-Hee (Photo: SeongJoon Cho/BB)
About 15 trillion won ($13 billion) worth of shares in Samsung Electronics Co. are poised to flood South Korea's stock market, as lawmakers and regulators seek to restrict the control that chaebol families exert over their business empires.
Samsung Life Insurance Co. is facing pressure to sell its stock in the electronics maker, as President Moon Jae-in's party prepares to push a bill through parliament that bans insurance firms from having a stake in an affiliate of more than 3% of its assets.
The measure would change accounting rules so that such holdings would be valued at their current price instead of their acquisition cost, putting the stake over the regulatory threshold.
The insurer is a key component in Lee Kun-hee's family's control over Samsung Electronics, and a smaller shareholding would weaken its influence over the Suwon-based company. A stock sale is one of the biggest clouds hanging over the manufacturer, which reports preliminary quarterly earnings Friday. The new bill, sluggish smartphone sales and an investigation in China over allegations of collusion in chip sales have fueled a 9% decline in the share price this year, after gaining in the last two years.
"It's Samsung Life's Achilles' heel that's weighing on Samsung Electronics shares," said Jeong Dae-ro, an analyst at Mirae Asset Daewoo Co. "There's no Samsung affiliate that can afford to take over so many Electronics shares from Samsung Life."
Samsung shares were down less than 1% at midday Thursday. A representative for Samsung Electronics referred the issue to Samsung Life, which said it's conducting a "comprehensive review to soundly manage its finances in line with changes in the environment."
Samsung's preliminary report is projected to show that sales fell slightly the quarter ended June. A conference call will be held after the full figures are released in about three weeks.
