SEOUL: Samsung Group affiliate Samsung SDI will be forced to sell Samsung C&T shares worth about 522 billion won ($483 million) after South Korea’s antitrust agency said on Thursday it would tighten rules on cross-shareholdings.
In order to comply with the stricter guidelines, Samsung SDI must sell about four million shares in Samsung C&T, a Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) official said.
The rules apply to cross-shareholding ties created by the merger of two companies in a conglomerate, such as the 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates which created Samsung C&T.
Shares in Samsung SDI fell 3.8% on Thursday before the announcement, while shares in Samsung C&T fell 1.2%.
Samsung would have six months to comply with the new guidelines once they were finalised, the commission said.
A Samsung spokesman declined to comment.