Samsung Increases Dacom Holdings

The competition between Samsung and LG to raise their stake in Dacom Corporation is getting intenser.
Samsung Group raised its stake in Dacom to 24.44 percent by buying 2.61 percent of KBS' Dacom shares and 1.23 percent from Yonhap News Agency on April 30.
As a result of the deal, Samsung's realized stake is 32.81 percent. That figure closely follows LG, the actual biggest stockholder of Dacom, if its indirect holdings, held by shareholders friendly to Samsung, are included.
Samsung announced its intention to increase its ownership continuously before the government repeals the five percent limit on Dacom shares currently imposed on all personal communication service(PCS) providers such as LG, which already owns a PCS company- LG Telecom.
A source in Samsung declared the company's strong resolve to acquire control of Dacom. He said, 'We presume the government will abrogate the current limit for PCS firms. This in effect means, the management of the carrier company will be decided according to the principles of a free market economy.'
In relation with this, according to industry analysts, LG probably reached an agreement with Tong Yang Group on acquiring its 23 percent stake, at a price of 14,000 won per share.
However Tong Yang denied this and proclaimed it will sell its shares to whomever offers the highest price.
Jooan Kang : jooan@joongang.co.kr