Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, will gift 2.6 trillion won ($1.8 billion) worth of Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) shares to her eldest son, Chairman Jay Y. Lee. The transfer will raise Lee's stake in Samsung Electronics to 1.75% from 1.58%.
Lee will receive 11,158,000 common shares of Samsung Electronics from Hong, according to a regulatory filing with the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 13th. The stake is worth 2.6054 trillion won based on Samsung Electronics' closing price of 233,500 won on the same day. The two signed the gift agreement on the 12th, a day earlier, and the transfer is scheduled for the 12th of next month.
Once completed, Lee's holdings in Samsung Electronics will rise to 116,377,053 shares from 105,219,053 shares. His combined stake in common and preferred shares will climb 0.17 percentage points to 1.75% from 1.58%. Hong's stake, meanwhile, will fall to 0.82% from 0.99%. Because the shares are moving between mother and son, the Lee family's overall holdings remain unchanged.
Hong disclosed a plan last month to sell Samsung Electronics shares to Lee. That transaction was intended to repay loans taken out to cover inheritance taxes on the estate of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Lee bought 7,667,100 Samsung Electronics shares for about 1.9206 trillion won through an off-exchange transaction on the 12th of this month.
Unlike the earlier purchase, which involved a cash payment, the latest transaction is a gift that transfers shares without consideration. Lee will therefore owe gift taxes. The amount is calculated based on the average share price over the two months before and after the transfer date, among other factors, and the final figure is expected to be determined early next year.