Samsung Group affiliates including de-facto holding company Samsung C&T Corp. have sold off their entire stake in Pusan Newport Company (PNC), a container terminal service provider based in the port city of Busan, South Korea, to global port terminal operator DP World International B.V. for $250 million amid ongoing efforts by the country’s largest conglomerate to reform the corporate structure.

According to multiple sources from the investment banking industry on Friday, Samsung Group affiliates have sold their combined 23.93 percent stake -- 12.91 percent by Samsung C&T, 6.69 percent by Samsung Life Insurance, 0.98 percent by Samsung Electronics Co., and 3.35 percent by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. -- in PNC to DP World International at $250 million. Following the sale, Dubai-based DP World International, the currently largest shareholder of PNC, has further increased its ownership in PNC to 66.03 percent, tightening its grip over PNC.

PNC, established in 1997 to attract private investment for new port development in Busan, is considered a cash-reaping company that has raised 58.4 billion won in operating profit on sales of 201.4 billion won last year. Samsung Group’s latest decision to abandon such a handsome revenue source seemed to have been made as part of its moves to dispose non-core assets to restructure the corporate governance, said an unnamed official familiar with the matter.

If Samsung C&T and Samsung Life Insurance that each own shares in Samsung Electronics also continue to separately have stakes in PNC, such complex shareholding structure would make it hard for Samsung to turn into a holding company structure. Industry observers noted that Samsung has disposed PNC shares to simplify such complex corporate structure.

In November, the group’s tech unit Samsung Electronics announced that it will study a range of ways to overhaul its ownership and management structure including a demerger into holding and operating entities and would draw up a final outline to restructure its corporate structure six months later.

By Kang Doo-soon and Han Woo-ram

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