By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) – Chey Tae-won, chairman of South Korea’s SK Group, said on Monday the conglomerate would prevent the outcome of its recent divorce payment from leaving SK companies vulnerable to hostile takeovers or other problems.
The Seoul High Court ruled in late May that Chey must pay more than $1 billion to his estranged wife as part of their planned divorce.
Chey will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, he told reporters on Monday.
“There are areas where we need to prevent this from turning into hostile takeovers or crises like that, but I think we have sufficient capacity to block them,” Chey said.
In a surprise appearance before the press, he bowed deeply to the audience for causing concern over personal matters, adding that he would continue to perform his leadership duties to contribute to the national economy.
Chey owns 17.7% of the holding company SK Inc and controls SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker, and other SK affiliates through its stake in SK Inc.
Shares in SK Inc had risen after the Supreme Court ruling, as investors bet Chey may have to sell some of his stake to raise money if the Supreme Court upholds the ruling.
However, analysts say Chey could sell his stakes in non-core companies or take out loans to finance his divorce settlement so as not to affect his control of the conglomerate.
