After a nasty, six-week battle involving judges, watermelons, and anti-Semitism, Samsung C&T shareholders approved a merger with Cheil Industries, solidifying Samsung’s founding family’s grip on Samsung Electronics and dealing a massive blow to Paul Singer and his hedge fund, Elliott Management.
A massive 69.5% of shareholders cast their vote in favor of the merger, though according to the WSJ, the activist fund’s stakes in various Samsung affiliates should still allow them to question its validity in court – keeping them in the fight just as the Lees face scores of unhappy Samsung C&T shareholders.
Here’s what an Elliott spokesman had to say:
“Elliott is disappointed that the takeover appears to have been approved against the wishes of so many independent shareholders and reserves all options at its disposal.”
With things in Korea being what they are however, Elliott has a long, quite possibly uphill, battle ahead of them. Let’s see how it goes from here.
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