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"The
management wants me to express clearly that we do not have a
plan to merge with SDS," Robert Yi, Samsung Electronics' head of
investor relations, said at a company event in Seoul.
Samsung Group has been restructuring its sprawling business
empire over the past year to secure a stable transfer of control
from the founding family patriarch Lee Kun-hee to his three
children. The elder Lee remains hospitalized following a May
2014 heart attack, adding urgency to these efforts.
Some investors and analysts have said Samsung Electronics and
Samsung SDS, an IT services company, could merge soon. Such a
deal would give Samsung Group heir apparent Jay Y. Lee and his
sisters, major shareholders in SDS, shares in Samsung
Electronics, the crown jewel of South Korea's top conglomerate.
"This announcement may not remove all the rumors and hearsayers
in the market but I hope it conveys the management's thoughts on
this issue," Yi said.
Samsung's de facto holding firm, Cheil Industries Inc, and
Samsung C&T Corp announced in late-May an all-stock
merger, putting stakes in key manufacturing and financial arms
in a single vehicle under the Lee heirs' control.
Investors expect more group consolidation moves to be announced
in the near term, though Samsung Group has not disclosed its
restructuring plans.
(Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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