Samsung C&T Corp., the construction unit of the top conglomerate, Samsung Group, said Friday that it has received requests from shareholders to buy back their shares worth 670 billion won ($578 million) in a move against a merger with its sister firm, which has fallen short of the amount required to thwart the deal.
  

Thursday was the deadline for shareholders of Samsung C&T and its de facto holding firm, Cheil Industries Inc., to lodge their claims with the two if they want to exercise their appraisal rights for a repurchase of shares in opposition to the merger of the two units.
  

In a regulatory filing, Samsung C&T said that it has received such claims from shareholders owning a total of 11.7 million shares. It has set the repurchase price at 57,234 won per share.

Cheil Industries, in a separate regulatory notice, said the value of request came to 156,493 won in total, equivalent to only one stock.  
  

The two key Samsung units announced a plan on May 26 to combine themselves in an all-stock deal worth 8.9 trillion won. Last month, shareholders of the two units approved the merger deal in the face of strong opposition from some investors, including U.S.-based hedge fund Elliott Associates, who claimed that the merger is a low-ball deal.
  

The merger deal could be called off if the share buyback claims exceeded 1.5 trillion won, Samsung C&T had said earlier.
  

Elliott, the third-largest shareholder in the builder, has asked Samsung C&T to buy back 4.95 percent of its 7.12 percent stake in the firm, worth 443 billion won.

Analysts predict that the partial stake sale will incur some 13.5 billion won in losses for the hedge fund. If it disposes of its entire stake, the losses are expected to increase to more than 40 billion won, according to analysts' estimates.
  

Because the receipts for the claims have turned out to be far short of the key level needed to scrap the deal, the merger process will go along as planned, Samsung C&T said.
  

The new entity, which will bear the builder's name, will officially set sail on Sept. 1, with its shares to be listed on the stock market two weeks later.
  

The Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger is seen as the most important step in speeding up Samsung's leadership transfer to Lee Jae-yong, the only son of the group's patriarch, Lee Kun-hee, who has been bedridden for more than a year after a heart attack.
  

Shares of Samsung C&T closed at 52,300 won on the Seoul bourse Friday, down 5.25 percent from Thursday's close. Cheil Industries also slumped 4.66 percent to 153,500 won. The broader KOSPI slipped 0.15 percent. (Yonhap)