[비즈한국] SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, challenging the court's recent ruling on property division. In July, the Seoul High Court ordered Chairman Chey to pay 944 billion won to Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, as a property settlement following their divorce. The High Court set the property division ratio at two-thirds for Chairman Chey and one-third for Director Roh.
In a statement, Chairman Chey's legal team said, "Chairman Chey filed the appeal after careful consideration, taking various circumstances into account," adding, "We will engage in future procedures with a commitment to minimizing negative impacts on shareholders and group management."
Business circles suggest the main reason behind Chairman Chey's appeal is the difficulty of securing such a large sum of cash in the short term. If Chairman Chey does not pay the settlement once the ruling is finalized, the daily late interest alone would amount to 130 million won. By filing an appeal, the ruling is not yet final, allowing him to buy more time.
It is reported that Chairman Chey proposed paying the settlement in a mix of cash and shares, but failed to reach an agreement with Director Roh. The existing ruling mandated full payment in cash, and it is understood that Director Roh insisted on receiving the full amount in cash as ordered.
Some in the business community speculate that Chairman Chey may sell his 29.39% stake in SK Siltron to raise the necessary cash. Doosan Group recently announced that it would acquire a 70.61% stake in SK Siltron for 2.3 trillion won, valuing the shares at approximately 48,600 won each. Based on this valuation, Chairman Chey’s 29.39% stake would be worth 957.5 billion won, a level sufficient to cover the 944 billion won settlement.
However, the acquisition price paid by Doosan Group includes a management control premium. Since Doosan Group has already secured management control, there is no reason for them to purchase additional shares of SK Siltron. Even if a third party were to acquire all of Chairman Chey's shares, it would be difficult to influence SK Siltron's management. Therefore, it is expected that the actual proceeds from a potential sale by Chairman Chey would be significantly less than 957.5 billion won.
Even if Chairman Chey succeeds in selling his SK Siltron stake, the process will take time. Doosan Group's acquisition of the 70.61% stake will not be finalized until January of next year. Even if Chairman Chey were to sign a sale agreement for his shares immediately, he would likely not receive the full proceeds until next year. This is why the Chairman needs more time.
In its disclosure regarding the acquisition of the SK Siltron stake, Doosan Group stated, "We plan to engage in separate discussions with the counterparty (Chairman Chey Tae-won) for the acquisition of the remaining 29.39% stake in SK Siltron," adding, "We will disclose relevant details in accordance with disclosure regulations if any specific matters are decided in the future."
At present, it is difficult to predict when the Supreme Court will issue its final ruling. Usually, it takes at least several months, and in some cases, several years for a final verdict to be reached. The legal community expects Chairman Chey to request a re-evaluation of the base date used for calculating property division. The remand court initially set April 16, 2024, as the base date for calculating the stock price of SK Inc. However, since then, SK Inc.'s stock price has risen sharply, and the court factored this into the calculation of the division ratio.
It is expected that Chairman Chey will argue against the inclusion of post-base-date stock price fluctuations in the division ratio calculation. Furthermore, while the closing price of SK Inc. was 630,000 won on the day of the remand ruling (July 24), the current stock price is hovering in the mid-500,000 won range. Consequently, there is speculation that Chairman Chey may highlight the recent decline in SK Inc.'s stock price to push for a readjustment of the division ratio.