Activist Flashlight offers 45% premium for Samsung affiliates’ S-1 stakes
Activist investor Flashlight Capital Partners has offered to buy the stakes held by five Samsung affiliates in South Korean security-services company S-1 Corp at a 45% premium, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Activist investor Flashlight Capital Partners has proposed purchasing the stakes held by five Samsung affiliates in South Korean security-services firm S-1 Corp at a 45% premium, according to a Bloomberg report. The offer, which values the combined 20.6% stake at KRW906.6bn ($655m), comes as South Korea's improved shareholder protections come into effect.
S-1 shares surged 11% upon hearing the news, before settling around 3% higher. Flashlight, which holds less than 5% of S-1, suggested paying 116,000 won per share for the affiliates' holdings. The proposal, described as a "bear hug" strategy, aims to pressure board members to consider the deal and potentially benefit shareholders.
The move may test South Korea's revised Commercial Act, which expanded directors' fiduciary duties to include all shareholders, not just controlling ones. Flashlight's founder, Sanghyun Lee, argued that the five Samsung affiliates have no strategic reason to retain their S-1 shares.
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