As Samsung Electronics formally establishes a mergers and acquisitions team within its newly launched Business Support Office, anticipation is building over the tech giant and its chaebol chief charting a fresh management strategy heading into the new year.
Earlier this month, Samsung upgraded its Business Support Task Force into a permanent organization, and, just a week later, added its first-ever team devoted solely to M&A.
With the shift coming after Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong was cleared of charges after yearslong court battles, industry officials expect the company may be positioning itself for large-scale deals as well as a more active role from the chaebol chief.
According to industry sources on Sunday, Samsung has appointed President Ahn Joong-hyun, who oversaw the company’s biggest transactions, to lead the new M&A team.
Ahn, who joined Samsung in 1986, previously worked in the Future Strategy Office and later moved to the Business Support Task Force after the FSO was disbanded. There, he oversaw the company's $8 billion acquisition of automotive components maker Harman in 2017, and played a key role in the sales of Samsung Techwin and Samsung Fine Chemicals in 2014 and 2015.
With the establishment of the M&A team, there is also speculation that Samsung may sell off noncore assets. The company last divested a major business in 2016, when it sold its printing solutions unit to Hewlett-Packard.
Samsung's latest restructuring of the task force is particularly significant because it took place within what is widely viewed as its de facto control tower. The task force was created in 2017 when Samsung disbanded its powerful Future Strategy Office in the wake of a national corruption scandal -- a crisis that also saw Lee jailed and entangled in years of legal battles.
Leading the new office is Park Hark-kyu, who is widely regarded as a strategist with deep expertise in finance. According to industry officials, Park is known for his meticulous working style with sharp judgment grounded in wide-ranging experience across the organization. He previously served as head of support operations for Samsung's mobile division, and chief of the management diagnostics team at the now disbanded FSO.
“Park Hark-kyu is a tech-savvy veteran, and he will be tasked with reviving the ‘lost nine years’ during which the chairman was tied up in court," an industry official said.
Park is closely overseeing this year's executive reshuffle, aiming for a full-scale overhaul, according to industry sources.
Inside the Business Support Office, the Strategy Team is led by President Choi Yoon-ho, the Management Diagnostics Team by Executive Vice President Joo Chang-hoon and the People Team by Executive Vice President Moon Hee-dong.
With the addition of the M&A team, the Business Support Office now has around 70 employees. Further changes are expected in Samsung’s annual reshuffle, expected later this month.
herim@heraldcorp.com
