Inherited Dispositions
With Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee staying in the hospital for over 10 months, his son and daughters – Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hotel Shilla President Lee Bu-jin, and Cheil Worldwide President Lee Seo-hyeon – are coming to the front by leading global M&A projects and seeking future growth opportunities.
The vice chairman started his career in the Samsung Group 14 years ago as a deputy managing director of Samsung Electronics. These days, he has led eight M&A deals of Samsung Electronics since May last year, which is close to the total number of M&A deals Samsung Electronics were involved in during the two years of 2012 and 2013. His aggressive move is based on the company’s determination that Samsung, on its own, may have a hard time beating its rivals in the emerging sectors including smart technology, Internet of Things (IoT) and B2B transactions.
He is scheduled to take part in the Boao Forum in China from March 26 to 29. It is said that he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss economic cooperation and also meet with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Biadu Chairman Robin Li, and others.
Hotel Shilla President Lee Bu-jin, in the meantime, increased the sales of her hotel by more than 30 percent last year. More recently, she put her name on Forbes’ Asia's 50 Most Powerful Businesswomen and took over DFASS at US$100 million on March 23 as a preparation for the hotel’s business in the U.S. market. She is aiming to turn her company into one of the top three global duty-free chains.
Hotel Shilla has made efforts for overseas market diversification so as to be less dependent on domestic business. The first outcome is the duty-free perfume, cosmetics, and apparel shops in the Macau International Airport that opened in November last year. Also, the company is slated to run the duty-free shop in the Singapore Changi Airport from last month to 2020. Four years ago, she attracted Louis Vuitton to the Incheon International Airport duty-free shop.
Cheil Worldwide President Lee Seo-hyeon has concentrated on reform, innovation, and global competitiveness since taking the position in Dec. 2009. The company acquired U.S. advertising agency McKinney Communications in 2012 and succeeded in partnering with Crocs, Disney Land, and Samsonite based on thorough localization. In addition, it took over Bravo Asia in China to attract China Mobile, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the Agricultural Bank of China. It bought Iris, a British independent shopper marketing firm, in November last year, too.
Cheil Worldwide won no less than 13 prizes at the Asia-Pacific Advertising Festival 2015, which took place in Pattaya, Thailand from March 19 to 21. Its successful M&A has turned itself from a Korean ad market leader to the world’s 15th global marketing solution company. The number of its overseas offices increased from 29 to 47 between 2009 and 2014, and 77 percent of its sales come from overseas markets.