Samsung readies for power succession with management reshuffle expected next wee

Samsung is offloading shares in four of its affiliates,... another step in the group′s efforts to get its house in order... before a leadership shift... takes place in the Samsung empire.
The next move in that direction... is expected to come next week.
Our Lee Ji-yoon reports on how everything is lining up. Samsung is getting ready for a generational power transfer.
With Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee still in the hospital after suffering a heart attack in May,... his three children are putting the group′s restructuring plans into action.
And Wednesday′s news of Samsung selling shares in four of its affiliates proves just that.
Forty-six-year-old Lee Jae-yong, the chairman′s only son and the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics,... is widely expected to be the next in line to run the company.
Now that Samsung has decided to do away with most of its defense and chemical businesses,... Lee is expected to take control of the group′s core profit-making units.
Those are electronics, financial services and construction.
As for Lee Boo-jin, the chairman′s eldest daughter, she will oversee Hotel Shilla and control trade and catering units.
Lee Kun-hee′s youngest daughter, Lee Seo-hyun,... will call the shots for the group′s fashion and media branches.
Samsung′s entities are held together by a labyrinth of cross-shareholdings that enables the Lee family to maintain control over the group despite holding a small amount of shares.
With a leadership change underway, the company is also planning to carry out a reshuffle of high-ranking executives sometime next week.
The management overhaul comes as Samsung battles falling earnings, especially in its mobile division.
Lee Ji-yoon, Arirang News.