Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin, the daughter of late former Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, is seeking to sell over 5.2 million Samsung Electronics shares in an after-hours block deal, according to market sources, Tuesday. The 447 billion won ($330 million) to be cashed will be used to pay part of the inheritance tax total of 12 trillion won levied on the family, which will be paid in five yearly installments throughout next year.Lee reportedly signed a trust agreement with Hana Bank last month to arrange the deal. The stated purpose of the agreement was to finance loan repayments.The per-share price of the sale will be in the range of between 83,700 won and 84,500 won. The range was set after a discount rate of up to 0.95 percent was applied.The over 5 million shares will account for about 0.09 percent of Samsung Electronics’ total shares.The block deal will lower the Hotel Shilla CEO’s stake in Samsung Electronics to 0.80 percent from 0.89 percent.This adds to 707 billion won in stock loans that she took out against her 0.33 percent stake in Samsung Electronics at an annual borrowing rate of 5 percent. Lee pays over 3 billion won in monthly interest.
In January, the CEO sold off 558.6 billion won worth of stakes in Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS and Samsung Life in a block deal.The CEO, her younger sister and their mother have sold a combined 3 trillion won in Samsung affiliates’ shares to pay the inheritance tax.As of June last year, the loans of Samsung owner family members that were taken out against company affiliates’ shares amounted to a combined 4 trillion won.Taking out loans as opposed to selling shares of Samsung affiliates is an indication that the owner family wants limited changes in the group’s governance structure, market watchers said.The former Samsung chairman died in 2020.Samsung Electronics shares ended at 83,600 won, Tuesday, down 1.07 percent from the previous session.Market analysts say the price will soar to over 100,000 won, propelled by a recovery in the semiconductor upcycle.Samsung Electronics said April 5 that its sales in the first three months of this year increased to 71 trillion won, up 11.37 percent from the previous year.Operating profit spiked more than nine-fold to 6.6 trillion won. The earnings surprise far exceeded the market 온라인카지노 consensus of 5 trillion won in operating profit.