Samsung Electronics to Cancel Treasury Shares

Samsung Electronics announced today the Company’s Board of Directors approved plans to cancel the existing treasury shares held by the Company.

The strong balance sheet and the increase in cash holdings of the Company have reduced the need to hold treasury shares, which the Company had retained to use as a financial resource, including for M&A transactions and securing talented professionals.

More importantly, today’s decision reflects Samsung’s ongoing commitment to enhancing sustainable long-term value for shareholders.

As the current market value of the treasury shares exceeds 40 trillion won, the Company plans to cancel the shares in two stages to limit the impact on the financial market. The first stage will cancel 50 percent of the holding, or about 9 million common shares and about 1.6 million preferred shares, and the remainder will be canceled after the Board’s approval in 2018.

The Company currently holds 17,981,686 of common shares (12.9 percent of outstanding common stock) and 3,229,693 of preferred shares (15.9 percent of outstanding preferred stock) in treasury shareholding.