Samsung family set to sell $320 mn worth of SDS shares

Samsung Group family is set to sell a 3.9% stake in Samsung SDS Co. worth 390 billion won ($319.5 million) through a block deal. The seller is one of Samsung Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee's two sisters, Hotel Shilla Co. Chief Executive Lee Boo-jin and Samsung Welfare Foundation Chair Lee Seo-hyun, market watchers say.

The Samsung family held bookbuilding after the local stock market closed on March 21. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and KB Securities Co. led the process as bookrunners. 

The two investment banks have set the price band between 127,400 won and 129,500 won. They applied a 7.5-9% discount from 140,000 won, Samsung SDS shares' closing price on March 21. 

The seller will pay for inheritance tax by selling the common shares, banking sources said.

After Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee died in October 2020, Samsung Group announced a plan for the payment of the heirs' 12.5 trillion won inheritance tax. It is the highest amount imposed on a Korean company.

In the announcement, the group said the Lee family will pay one-sixth of the inheritance tax in April 2021 and then pay the remainder in five annual installments.

The Lee family will sell about 2.2 trillion won worth of their shares in Samsung Group affiliates by April 2022, said Samsung Electronics Co. last October. 

Write to Jae-fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.