Shin Youngja Sells Entire 73 Billion KRW Stake in Lotte Corporation and Shopping for Inheritance Tax Purposes

All 2,112,000 Shares Sold
670 Billion KRW from Lotte Corporation, 5.8 Billion KRW from Lotte Shopping

Shin Youngja, Chairwoman of Lotte Foundation and the eldest daughter of the late Lotte Group founder Shin Kyukho, has sold all of her shares in Lotte Corporation and Lotte Shopping, amounting to approximately 73 billion KRW.

Shin Youngja, Chairwoman of Lotte Scholarship Foundation. Photo by Lotte Foundation

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on July 17, Chairwoman Shin disposed of all 2,112,000 shares of Lotte Corporation she owned through three off-hours block trades conducted on July 10, 14, and 16. Prior to this, on July 10, she also sold all 77,654 shares of Lotte Shopping she held. The total value of the shares sold was 67 billion KRW for Lotte Corporation and 5.8 billion KRW for Lotte Shopping.

The Lotte Foundation stated that Chairwoman Shin's disposal of her holdings was "a measure to secure funds for inheritance tax," and explained, "She sold group company shares for the same purpose last year as well." In May and June of last year, Chairwoman Shin also sold a substantial portion of her shares in Lotte Corporation, Lotte Shopping, and Lotte Wellfood. After inheriting shares in Lotte affiliates following the death of Shin Kyukho in January 2020, she has reportedly been paying the inheritance tax in installments over five years through a deferred payment plan.

As a result of this sale, Chairwoman Shin no longer holds any shares in Lotte Corporation or Lotte Shopping, but she is still believed to own shares in other affiliates. According to the first quarter report of this year, she owns 140,939 shares (1.49%) of Lotte Wellfood and 247,073 shares (2.66%) of Lotte Chilsung.

Meanwhile, with Chairwoman Shin having sold all her Lotte Corporation shares, the combined stake held by Chairman Shin Dongbin, the largest shareholder, and his special affiliates has decreased from 45.44% to 43.43%, a drop of 2.01 percentage points. The stake held by Chairman Shin and his affiliates in Lotte Shopping has also declined from 60.39% to 60.12%, a decrease of 0.27 percentage points.