[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] The Fair Trade Commission said on the 3rd that the head family members of some companies, including Lotte and Sinokor Merchant Marine, control key domestic affiliates, including those at the top of the business group, through overseas affiliates.

According to the "2023 status of stock ownership of business groups subject to disclosure (large business groups with assets of more than KRW 5 trillion)" released by the FTC, there are 43 foreign affiliates (13 business groups) with a stake of 20% or more.

Eleven foreign affiliates (Lotte, Sinokor Merchant Marine· Kolon, JoongAng, OK Financial Group, etc.) have invested directly or indirectly in domestic affiliates. In particular, Lotte and Janggeum Merchant Marine were found to have the owner's family controlling key domestic affiliates through overseas affiliates.

Of the foreign affiliates with a 20% or more stake in the head's family, nine (affiliated with five business groups) directly invested in 16 local affiliates. Among them, seven domestic affiliates held more than 50% of the shares, the report showed.

In the case of Lotte, 21 foreign affiliates, including Lotte Holdings and Kwangyoon Corp. in Japan, have invested directly or indirectly in 13 domestic affiliates, including Busan Lotte Hotel and Hotel Lotte. Five domestic affiliates, including Lotte Hotel, Hotel Lotte and Lotte C&T, had a combined stake of more than half of their overseas affiliates.

According to the status of a large business group released by Lotte Holdings earlier in May, 2.69 percent of the stakes in Japan's Lotte Holdings are held by Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, 3.15 percent by his relative Shin Young-ja, former chairman of the Lotte Scholarship Foundation, 1.77 percent by former Lotte Holdings Vice Chairman Shin Dong-joo and 1.46 percent by former Lotte Hotel adviser Shin Yu-mi.

Former Vice Chairman Shin Dong-joo holds 50.28%, Chairman Shin 38.98%, and First Lady Shigemitsu Hatsuko, the spouse of Honorary Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho, holds 10.00% of the shares in Kwangyoonsa.

Nineteen Japanese Lotte companies are investing in 13 Korean Lotte companies, with 14 out of 19 Japanese companies with Shin as CEO.

The FTC will strengthen monitoring of large business groups' unfair internal transactions and taking advantage of private interests, while releasing information on the major status of large business groups, including debt guarantees (October), exercise of public interest corporate voting rights (November), internal transactions (November), governance (December), and holding companies (December).

 

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