Lotte group takes first major step to introduce holding company

By Park Sae-jin Posted : April 26, 2017, 18:26 Updated : April 26, 2017, 18:26

[Yonhap News Photo]


Lotte, South Korea's fifth-largest family-run conglomerate, took steps Wednesday to enhance corporate governance and transparency in management by overhauling four key affiliates for the creation of a new holding company.

Board of directors at Lotte Shopping, Lotte Chilsung Beverage, Lotte Confectionery and Lotte Food endorsed plans to split themselves into investment and business entities each.

The four investment entities will be merged to become a holding firm that will control other business arms, if approved by shareholders at their meetings on August 29.

Lotte Shopping and Lotte Confectionery have acted as the group's flagships by holding stakes in sister units through a complex web of cross-shareholding. Their role will be handed over to the holding company for easy and simplified control by group chairman Shin Dong-bin.

Eventually, the new holding company will merge itself with Hotel Lotte.

Initially, Shin proposed the initial public offering (IPO) of Hotel Lotte in charge of duty-free operations, as part of efforts to ease the group's complex cross-shareholding structure.

But the IPO has been delayed due to a family feud and an investigation by prosecutors into Lotte's illegal business activities and involvement in a corruption scandal engulfing jailed ex-president Park Geun-Hye.

The group also suffered a business setback in China after providing its golf course for the deployment of a US missile shield, but Shin hopes to complete the proposed realignment of group structure this year.

Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com

기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기