A South Korean court acquitted Samsung Electronics chief Lee Jae-yong on Monday of a raft of crimes linked to a controversial 2015 merger, local media reported.
Yonhap reported that the court said it did “not recognise intention to harm shareholders” through the merger, which critics had claimed was bad value and done mostly to ensure a smooth third-generational power transfer to Lee, a scion of Samsung’s founding family.
“Solidifying Lee’s control and ensuring his succession wasn’t the only purpose of the merger,” the court ruled, according to the Yonhap news agency, adding that there were “no validations to prove prosecution’s charge”.
The verdict from the Seoul Central District Court clears Lee of several charges, including stock price rigging, breach of trust and accounting fraud, in the 2015 merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.
Critics argue that the 2015 takeover deliberately undervalued the construction…
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