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Samsung Electronics to decide on whether to switch into holding company in 6 months

Xinhua, November 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it will decide on whether to switch into a holding company after reviewing it in cooperation with experts for six months.

The South Korean tech behemoth said in a statement that the company is reviewing ways to streamline its business structure, which include transforming itself into a holding company and listing itself in foreign bourse.

It would take at least six months to determine it, Samsungs said, vowing to make an optimal decision on its business structure, including the holding company system.

Demand for Samsung's transition to a holding company has lasted for long as complicated cross-shareholdings among subsidiaries of Samsung Group, the country's largest family-run conglomerate, did damage to transparency of corporate governance and hurt shareholders' value.

Samsung's founding family has been criticized for controlling scores of the group affiliates, including Samsung Electronics that is a crown jewel of the family-run chaebol, with a handful of equities.

Prosecutors are investigating into allegations that Samsung had bribed Choi Soon-sil, a lifelong friend of President Park Geun-hye who has been charged with abuse of power and extortion, in return for getting favors in the controversial merger of the group's two affiliates to create a de-facto holding company.

The merger last year between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries were extremely crucial to the succession of management control to Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong from his father Chairman Lee Kun-hee who has been hospitalized for two and a half years on heart attack.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics plan to pay 4 trillion won (3.4 billion U.S. dollars) in total for this year's dividend, up 30 percent from the previous year as part of efforts to return more business profits to shareholders.

The company said it will use half of the free cash flow in 2016 and 2017 for the profit-return policy through increased dividend payment as well as the purchase and cancellation of treasury stocks.

In the past year, Samsung purchased and retired 11.4 trillion won worth of treasury stocks to enhance shareholders' value, according to the company. Enditem