Samsung Electronics: "No Truth to Stock Price Manipulation in Mulsan-CheilMojik Merger" (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Samsung Electronics has denied some media reports related to the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries as untrue.

On the 5th, Samsung Electronics issued a statement saying, "Regarding reports suggesting that the stock price was intentionally inflated to facilitate the 2015 merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, our legal counsel has confirmed that these claims are groundless and that there was absolutely no market manipulation at that time."

They also emphasized that the claim that Samsung C&T delayed the announcement of winning the basic construction contract for the Qatar combined cycle power plant by two months to prevent a stock price rise has neither been acknowledged nor confirmed in the prosecution's investigation.

The legal team explained that Cheil Industries' large-scale share repurchases to manage the stock price were conducted in strict compliance with laws and regulations, which have established procedures for such buybacks.

Samsung Electronics stated, "We clearly assert that the allegation that Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics was involved in decisions related to market manipulation is an unreasonable claim beyond common sense," and requested restraint from speculative reporting.