“We will listen to those who opposed the deal and pledge to better engage with our shareholders and be more open to their input and feedback”, Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries said in a joint statement.
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Cheil shareholders approved the deal early on Friday.
The all-stock offer from Cheil needed the backing of two-thirds of the votes cast to succeed.
Elliott had argued that the takeover wilfully undervalued the C&T share price, at an unacceptable cost to its shareholders.
Lee, son of Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee and the company’s chief operating officer arrives at the company’s headquarters in Seoul December 1, 2010.
The battle exposed some contentious issues for Korea such as corporate governance and shareholder rights, and many opinions about those issues were aired at the meeting. This has sparked criticism over the South Korean legislation not offering enough protection for minor shareholders and foreign investors in such cases. “We will do our utmost to ensure their support is repaid in the form of heightened shareholder value”.
Samsung pulled two cartoons lambasting a critic of a merger between two of its subsidiaries from its website Wednesday, amid allegations of corporate anti-Semitism. South Korean stocks often trade at discounts to global peers due to opaque shareholding structures and low dividends.
“I think going forward other chaebols will be more careful to make sure terms are fairer so they don’t attract as much attention”, he said.
C&T shares dropped 10 percent in Seoul after the vote. “It’s too unfair”, an elderly shareholder told the meeting before the vote.
“There are a lot of people who are just biting the bullet”, he said.
Elliot has also been active, garnering backing for its opposition stance from institutional investors like pension giant APG Groep, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Aberdeen Asset Management.
Jewish organisations last week called on Samsung and South Korea’s government to denounce anti-Semitic stereotypes in local media.
With few predicting the result with certainty, Samsung engaged in an all-out effort to drum up support.
The meeting, held at the aT Center in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul, turned into a messy battle among Samsung C&T investors holding different views on the merger. The developments have raised expectations that Greece will secure a financial lifeline to allow the country to get back toward some sort of economic normality following a crisis that has seen banks shuttered for almost three weeks and withdrawals at ATMs limited to a paltry 60 euros a day. It mobilized employees to visit the workplaces and homes of shareholders with mango juice and watermelon.
Few bought Samsung’s argument that the takeover would create business benefits.
Samsung C&T and Elliott have been embroiled in a proxy fight to win more votes for each other’s claims, wooing shareholders to their sides through heated media campaigns.
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The chaebol is a collection of 67 companies generating more than $250 billion in annual revenue, and traces its roots to C&T, which was the first company the group established in 1938.
