U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management said Wednesday it hopes minority shareholders will give their proxy votes to the fund for its fight against Samsung Group‘s move to merge two key units.

Samsung C&T Corp., the construction arm of South Korea’s top conglomerate, Samsung Group, has been embroiled in a legal battle with Elliott since early this month as the fund voiced its opposition to an 8.9 trillion won ($8.09 billion) takeover offer by Cheil Industries Inc., the de facto holding firm of the conglomerate.

Elliott, the third-largest shareholder of Samsung C&T, has opposed the proposed merger, saying that the move undermines the interests of C&T shareholders based on the undervalued price of the builder.

The U.S. buyout fund said in a regulatory filing that it has asked the builder‘s shareholders to allow the fund to exert its voting rights by proxy when it meets to decide whether to approve the proposed merger in July.

“It would be most desirable that the stakeholders vote against the proposed deal or Elliott exercises its voting rights by proxy at a shareholders’ meeting slated for July 17,” the fund said in the filing.

South Korean institutional investors own more than 20 percent of Samsung C&T, which could serve as the swing vote on Samsung‘s high-profile fight with Elliott.

KCC, an existing shareholder of C&T, recently raised its stake in the builder to 5.79 percent by acquiring treasury shares, a move seen as siding with Samsung.

The representatives of the small investors said they will vote against the merger at the July shareholder meeting, instead of handing over their voting rights to Elliott by proxy.

Minority shareholders are estimated to hold a combined 0.5 percent stake in the builder, according to an online site of their group. (Yonhap)