On March 15, 2024, Samsung C&T Corp. announced that City of London Investment Management, Whitebox Advisors, Anda Asset Management and 2 unidentified investment firms got defeated in a proxy fight against the holding firm of Samsung Group. The Company stated that during the Company?s annual shareholders?

meeting on March 15, 2024, 77% of voting shares gave the nod to the Company?s dividend plan to pay out 2,550 won ($1.92) per common share and 2,600 won per preferred share in cash. The Company added that five activist funds? joint call for higher dividends of 736.4 billion won in total ?

4,500 won per common share and 4,550 won per preferred share ? however, garnered only 23% votes. The Company stated that the proposal to request the Company to repurchase 500 billion won of shares in the Company also got turned down.

The Company also stated that a representative of the activist funds at the meeting condemned Samsung C&T?s inefficient capital allocation system, poor corporate governance management and a lack of transparency in its business strategy for causing a significant discount to its stock value and losses to its investors. The National Pension Service, Korea?s biggest institutional investor and the company?s major stakeholder with a 7.01% stake, also voted against the activist funds' proposal, saying it is too much. The Company?s vice president, Song Kue-jong, stated that in response to activist funds?

demand to buy back treasury shares, the Company would use cash to invest in new business opportunities instead of share repurchases to improve shareholder value.