Big Money Gained from IPO
The combined equity value of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and his family members in the recently-listed Cheil Industries amounts to 6.4 trillion won (US$5.8 billion).
According to the Financial Supervisory Services, the vice chairman, who is the largest shareholder of the company, owns 23.24 percent of it, and the value totals 3.5448 trillion won (US$3.2221 billion) based on the closing price of Dec. 18 at 113,000 won (US$102.65).
The vice chairman is considered to be the biggest beneficiary of the listing of Cheil Industries. On the day of the listing of Samsung SDS, which went public on Nov. 14, his equity value in Samsung SDS amounted to 2.8507 trillion won (US$2.5912 billion). The vice chairman has become the second-richest stockholder in Korea through the listing of Samsung SDS and Cheil Industries. He is estimated to be in possession of stocks worth 7 trillion won (US$6.4 billion) in total, second only to his father and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
Hotel Shilla President Lee Bu-jin and Cheil Industries President Lee Seo-hyeon each own 7.75 percent of Cheil Industries, equivalent to 1.1816 trillion won (US$1.0743 billion). The chairman accounts for 3.45 percent of the company and his value is 5.258 trillion won (US$4.779 billion).
Market experts are predicting that the owners’ equity value will continue increasing with time, because they are unlikely to sell their shares and are expected to work to raise the corporate value in view of the standing of Cheil Industries in the Samsung Group. “Cheil Industries, which is the root of the Samsung Group, is a typical asset stock with a large area of land,” one of them explained, adding, “The company is planning to use the chairman’s 5,950,413 m2 land in Yongin City and its 11,239,669 m2 land for leisure purposes in the future, while carrying out asset revaluation in order to raise the corporate value.”
In the meantime, other Samsung Group subsidiaries such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDI, and Samsung C&T have also enjoyed an increase in equity value since the IPO. They own 3.7 percent, 3.7 percent, and 1.37 percent of Cheil, respectively. The equity value of KCC Constructions, accounting for 10.19 percent of it, reaches 1.55 trillion won (US$1.41 billion), too.