SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. activist hedge fund Elliott Management said on Thursday it expected Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to take further steps to improve shareholder value after the South Korean tech giant rejected its demand to adopt a holding company structure.
“We are encouraged that Samsung Electronics has agreed to take the bold step of optimising its balance sheet through a cancellation of its legacy holding of treasury shares,” the U.S. fund said in a statement.
“We think there is room for even more progress due to the company’s announced commitment to enhance its board.”
Samsung rejected a call from Elliott to split itself in two but accepted part of the fund’s proposals on Thursday, revealing plans to cancel its existing treasury shares worth over $ 35 billion (£27.22 billion) to enhance shareholder value by 2018.
(Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Stephen Coates)
