Samsung heiress sells $326 mn worth of Samsung Elec shares

Samsung Group heiress and Hotel Shilla Chief Executive Lee Boo-jin sold 441.2 billion won ($325.9 million) worth of Samsung Electronics Co. shares in a block deal before Tuesday’s market open, according to banking sources on April 9.

Lee unloaded 5.25 million Samsung Electronics stocks, representing 0.09% of outstanding shares. The divestment was made at 84,102 won per share at a 0.47% discount to Monday’s closing price.

Lee set a price range between 83,700 won and 84,500 won apiece, or a 0-0.95% discount to Monday’s closing price. The block deal attracted many long-term fund managers to the bookbuilding, according to sources.

Lee’s stake in Samsung Electronics fell from 0.89% to 0.8% after the block deal. The heiress said on March 15 that she will divest of a 0.09% stake in Samsung Electronics through a block deal by April 22.

In January, Lee, her younger sister and Samsung Welfare Foundation Chair Lee Seo-hyun and their mother Hong Ra-hee sold 2.8 trillion won worth of shares in Samsung Group affiliates, comprised of 2.2 trillion won worth of Samsung Electronics stocks and 558.6 billion won worth of combined Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung SDS Co. and Samsung C&T Corp. shares.

The late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee's first daughter is expected to use the proceeds to pay her inheritance tax.

Through the block deal, she had borrowed 707 billion won to pay the inheritance tax. The heiress took out the loan at an annual rate of 5% from a financial firm using her 0.33% stake in Samsung Electronics and has been paying 3 billion won in interest monthly, according to sources.

Her late father died in October 2020, leaving an inheritance worth 26 trillion won and 12 trillion won in inheritance tax. The bereaved family is paying the tax in installments over five years beginning April 2021.

Write to Jun-Ho Cha at hacha@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.