South Korea has been ordered to pay around $53.6 million in compensation to US hedge-fund manager Elliott Management by an international arbitration tribunal over the controversial merger of two Samsung units back in 2015 that resulted in a corruption scandal, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Elliott’s case against South Korea originated from the $8 billion merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, which triggered a wide-reaching corruption scandal. Elliott was a minority stakeholder in Samsung C&T and opposed the deal, deeming the terms of the merger unduly unfavourable to the company.
The report cites South Korea’s Ministry of Justice as claiming that the compensation equates to roughly 7% of the damages initially sought by Elliot.
In addition to the compensation, the tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has ruled that South Korea must also pay Elliott around eight years’ worth of compound annual interest at a 5% rate, and $28.9 million for legal fees, while Elliott has to pay the state $3.5 million for legal bills.
