A merger announced last week between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries is an essential part of a plan by the controlling Lee family to streamline its sprawling web of companies, and to consolidate control over crown jewel Samsung Electronics. The price being offered, however, is sweet only for the Lee family.
The all-stock deal offers C&T shareholders 0.35 shares of Cheil Industries, the family’s de facto holding company, for each C&T share. But that values C&T cheaply, while Cheil’s shares are overvalued at their current, lofty price.
Under Korean securities law, the pricing of all-stock mergers is based on a formula, taking into account where the two stocks traded for a period of time before the deal is announced.