SEOUL: A South Korean court on Tuesday declined to issue an arrest warrant for the heir to the country’s Samsung empire over a controversial merger of two business units seen as a key step to his succession. The merger case is separate from his ongoing retrial, but adds to the difficulties for the Samsung group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate business in the world’s 12th-largest economy. Prosecutors had sought the arrest warrant for Lee on suspicion he was involved in price manipulation and illegal trading during the 2015 merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. The merger transaction was seen as helping ensure a smooth third-generational power transfer to Lee, a scion of Samsung’s founding family. Lee, 51, has effectively been at the helm of Samsung — South Korea’s biggest business group — since his father and Samsung group boss Lee Kun-hee suffered a heart attack in 2014.

Source: Manila Times June 09, 2020 01:41 UTC