ID :
198459
Mon, 08/01/2011 - 11:30
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/198459
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Samsung to unload controversial stake in MRO affiliate
SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Yonhap) -- Samsung, South Korea's largest industrial group, said Monday that the group's affiliates will sell their stake in an affiliate that provides procurement services and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) goods, apparently after the conglomerate came under government and public pressure.
Samsung Electronics Co., the group's flagship unit, and eight affiliated companies will seek to sell a combined 58.7 percent stake in iMarketKorea Co., the country's leading procurement service provider, the group said in a statement. The group set up iMarketKorea in 2000.
The move comes as chaebol, South Korea's family-controlled industrial groups, face a series of backlash from the public and government, who say the conglomerates stifled competition and growth of smaller MRO firms by unfairly giving all orders to their affiliated MRO companies.
Critics have also alleged that MRO companies are being used as ways to evade taxes and pass around wealth within the families that own chaebol.
The planned stake sale will help Samsung focus on its core businesses and foster growth and competition in the local MRO industry, it said. Samsung, however, said the group's affiliates plan to maintain their business relationship with iMarketKorea.
iMarketKorea posted sales of 1.54 trillion won (US$1.48 billion) last year.
Samsung Electronics Co., the group's flagship unit, and eight affiliated companies will seek to sell a combined 58.7 percent stake in iMarketKorea Co., the country's leading procurement service provider, the group said in a statement. The group set up iMarketKorea in 2000.
The move comes as chaebol, South Korea's family-controlled industrial groups, face a series of backlash from the public and government, who say the conglomerates stifled competition and growth of smaller MRO firms by unfairly giving all orders to their affiliated MRO companies.
Critics have also alleged that MRO companies are being used as ways to evade taxes and pass around wealth within the families that own chaebol.
The planned stake sale will help Samsung focus on its core businesses and foster growth and competition in the local MRO industry, it said. Samsung, however, said the group's affiliates plan to maintain their business relationship with iMarketKorea.
iMarketKorea posted sales of 1.54 trillion won (US$1.48 billion) last year.
