The Lotte Group has unveiled a major restructuring, addressing growing criticism of its complex corporate structure, a move it said it will enhance shareholder value.
The group said its four listed units – Lotte Shopping, Lotte Confectionery, Lotte Chilsung Beverage, and Lotte Food – will now be split up into an investment unit and a business unit each.
The four investment units will then be merged to form a single holding company (as-yet unnamed) that will oversee the business units. The holding company, which will be headquartered at the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, will manage the various brand licenses of the group and oversee management of the subsidiaries.
Lotte said the changes will reduce cross-shareholdings in the group to just 18, from 67 currently. It added that the changes are “expected to enhance the company’s transparency. The company value and shares value, which have been underestimated because of the opaque governance structure, are expected to get re-evaluated”.
Source: KamCity
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