Fundamentals of divestiture as a restructuring method : case study of LG demergers in terms of shareholders value and corporate governance in the context of Korean practice

Abstract

This thesis is to generally review the practices and cases in the global capital market places in regard to the divestitures as one of the corporate restructuring instruments and to confirm the generally acceptable hypothesis that the most of breakup cases driven by the strategic purpose of "focus and concentration" would be justified by the enhancement of shareholders value. And the discussion expands to the divestitures in Korea introduced in late 1990s, which prevailed and practiced widely in the market ever since, but in some cases, it was combined with formation of the holding company structure in accordance to the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act making the issue complicated one in regard to the reform and restructuring of major conglomerates, the "Chaebol" in Korea. The LG demerger cases were right in the center of the discussions, and this thesis is to address four hypotheses in regard to the background, key components, aftermaths, and the implication of the LG's transaction through which it would be assessed in terms of shareholders value and corporate governance in the context of Korean practice.