Activist Offers 45% Premium for Samsung Affiliates' S-1 Stake

M&A · PartnershipCorporate Action

โดย Bloomberg·

Summary · why it matters

Singapore-based activist investor Flashlight Capital Partners has offered a 45% premium to acquire the combined 20.6% stake held by five Samsung affiliates in S-1 Corp., a security-services provider, for 116,000 won per share, totaling 906.6 billion won ($655 million). The offer, which exceeds S-1's record closing price of 115,000 won from July 2016, gives the Samsung boards until September 23 to respond. Flashlight, which holds less than 5% of S-1, argues that none of the affiliates—Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Securities, and Samsung Card—has a strategic reason to retain the stake, and selling would free up capital for core businesses or shareholder returns. The move is seen as a 'bear hug' tactic, leveraging South Korea's 2025 revision to the Commercial Act that expanded directors' fiduciary duties to all shareholders. Flashlight founder Sanghyun Lee called it the first bear hug in Korea, testing whether boards serve shareholders or the Samsung family. Shares of S-1 jumped as much as 11% before paring gains to around 3%.

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