By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -The South Korean government has been ordered to pay hedge fund Elliott about $108.5 million, Elliott and the Ministry of Justice said on Tuesday, in an dispute settlement case stemming from the 2015 merger of two Samsung (KS:005930) affiliates.
The tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague partly accepted Elliott Investment Management's claim for about $770 million, after the U.S. activist fund sued the South Korean government for the state-run National Pension Service's (NPS) role in approving the $8 billion merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T.
Elliott was a minority stakeholder in Samsung C&T and opposed the deal, deeming the terms of the merger unduly unfavourable to the company.
The NPS, which approved the merger, held a larger stake in Samsung C&T and was viewed as a casting vote.
In 2022, South Korea's Supreme Court confirmed a jail sentence for Moon Hyung-pyo, a former health and welfare minister, for pressuring the NPS into approving the merger in connection with a corruption scandal involving former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office.
The arbitration tribunal ordered the South Korean government to pay Elliott about $53.6 million in damages, plus delayed interest, as well as $28.9 million in legal fees, the justice ministry said, without elaborating.
The ministry said it would announce its future plans later. Elliott welcomed the decision in a statement, and urged South Korea to "pay the ultimate award rather than pursue baseless legal proceedings to challenge the Tribunal's decision".