(Photo= Yonhap news)

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is initiating disciplinary procedures against CJ Freshway, a food distribution and institutional catering company. The FTC has detected allegations that CJ Freshway provided unfair support to its subsidiaries and will soon convene a plenary session to determine the extent of sanctions. However, it has been confirmed that Chairman Lee Jae-hyun of CJ Group is not included in the sanctions, as this alleged unfair support was unrelated to succession within the executive family.

According to Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 23rd, a plenary session to deliberate on whether CJ Freshway engaged in unfair practices will be held on the 17th of next month. It is reported that CJ Freshway unfairly supported its subsidiaries by offering favorable terms compared to other companies, rather than concentrating business from within the group to enhance CJ Freshway's corporate value.

When a parent company unfairly supports its subsidiaries, financial resources do not leave the company, allowing for an increase in corporate value. CJ Freshway operates 14 subsidiaries domestically and internationally.

The FTC, however, distinguishes this case from the Samsung Welstory case, noting that neither Chairman Lee nor the group's leadership is subject to sanctions.

In 2021, the FTC concluded that Samsung had channeled catering contracts through Samsung Welstory to boost its value, indirectly benefiting from Chairman Lee Jae-yong's stake in Samsung C&T. The FTC imposed a record fine of 234.9 billion won for unfair support. Particularly, the FTC reported that former Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Choi Ji-sung and other group leaders had orchestrated such unfair support and subsequently reported them to the prosecution.

 

 

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