[E-Daily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] SamsungElectronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee is purchasing approximately 1.94 trillion won worth of SamsungElectronics shares held by his mother, Hong Ra-hee, Honorary Director of the Leeum Museum of Art, in an over-the-counter transaction. With the Samsung family having paid all inheritance taxes on the estate of the late Chairman Lee Kun-Hee last May, this transaction is interpreted as a move by Honorary Director Hong to repay loans from financial institutions taken out to cover the inheritance tax payments.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on the 9th, Chairman Lee plans to purchase 7,188,793 shares of SamsungElectronics common stock from Honorary Director Hong in an over-the-counter transaction on October 12. The transaction price is 269,500 won per share, bringing the total transaction value to 1.93737971 trillion won. The transaction price was calculated based on SamsungElectronics’ closing price on the 8th, the business day prior to the report’s submission.

Upon completion of this transaction, Chairman Lee’s holdings of SamsungElectronics shares will increase from the current 97,551,953 shares to 104,747,460 shares. His stake will also rise by 0.11 percentage points, from 1.47% to 1.58%. Conversely, Honorary Director Hong’s stake in SamsungElectronics will decrease from the current level of approximately 1.1% to around 0.9%. The shares Chairman Lee is acquiring account for approximately 0.11% of SamsungElectronics’ total issued shares.

According to the disclosure, the purpose of the transaction is “acquisition of shares from a related party.” As this is a transaction between major shareholders, Samsung has not issued a separate official statement regarding the specific background of the transaction or how Chairman Lee will finance the purchase. A Samsung official stated, “Since this is a transaction between major shareholders, we have no official position to disclose.”

Industry observers believe this transaction is intended to repay a loan from a financial institution that Honorary Director Hong received to pay inheritance tax. It is not a disposal of shares to raise funds for new inheritance tax payments. The Samsung family had already paid all inheritance taxes on the estate left by the late Chairman Lee in May.

The inheritance process began following the late Chairman Lee’s passing in October 2020, and in April of the following year, the surviving family members—including Chairman Lee, Honorary Director Hong, HotelShilla President Lee Boo-jin, and SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION President Lee Seo-hyun—filed an inheritance tax return with the National Tax Service.

The total inheritance tax, taking into account the shares in affiliated companies such as Samsung Life Insurance, SamsungElectronics, and SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION, as well as real estate left by the late Chairman Lee, was estimated at 12 trillion won. The surviving family members utilized the installment payment system to pay the inheritance tax in six installments over five years, beginning with the first payment in 2021, and completed the final payment last May.

Throughout this process, the Samsung family raised funds for the inheritance tax through the sale of shares and loans from financial institutions. Honorary Director Hong is also reported to have utilized loans from financial institutions to pay the inheritance tax. Accordingly, the sale of SamsungElectronics shares worth approximately 1.9 trillion won is interpreted as a measure to reduce the burden of related loans remaining after the inheritance tax was fully paid.

As a result of this transaction, Chairman Lee’s direct stake in SamsungElectronics will increase to 1.58%. However, since this is an intra-family transfer of shares between a mother and her son, there will be no change in the Samsung family’s overall stake in SamsungElectronics. Analysts assess that the immediate impact on the Samsung Group’s overall corporate governance structure will be limited.