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| ▲ SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won enters the government complex building in the administrative city of Sejong on Dec. 15, 2021, to attend a session by the Fair Trade Commission over an unfair business case. (Yonhap) |
regulator-SK chief
SK Group chief attends corporate watchdog's deliberation session over unfair biz case
SEOUL/SEJONG, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Wednesday made a rare appearance at a session by the antitrust regulator over allegations that he unfairly took huge profits from the group's 2017 purchase of a wafer manufacturer.
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is holding a deliberation session to decide the level of punitive actions over allegations that the group violated the fair trade act in the process of its purchase of LG Siltron Co., helping Chey gain undue profits.
Upon arriving at the government complex building in the administrative city of Sejong, Chey kept mum when asked by reporters about his stance on the case.
It is uncommon for the chief of a conglomerate to appear at an FTC deliberation session.
In January 2017, SK Holdings, the group's holding firm, bought a 51-percent stake in LG Siltron, a producer of wafers used in semiconductor manufacturing, from LG Group. Of the remaining 49 percent stake, SK purchased another 19.6 percent three months later.
Chey bought the remaining 29.4 percent stake in LG Siltron from creditor banks. This made the company, now renamed to SK Siltron Co., become wholly owned by SK Holdings and him.
The FTC has been probing the case on suspicions that SK Holdings deliberately allowed Chey to acquire the stake even as the group could have bought the interest at a cheaper price.
Under the fair trade act, large business groups with assets exceeding 5 trillion won (US$4.2 billion) are banned from giving undue profits to their chiefs by providing lucrative business opportunities.
The FTC reportedly judged that as Chey could receive dividend income from his stakeholdings, this could amount to "considerable" profits that are subject to tougher regulations for conglomerate chiefs under the law.
SK claims it was then "uncertain" that Chey could reap massive profits with his stake purchase. It also said it did not need the stakes exceeding 70.6 percent in LG Siltron and generated profits by making other investments and takeovers.
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