Lotte Is Finally Under One Leader

The undisclosed meeting in Tokyo yesterday has gone well; the shareholders of Lotte Holdings have officially reaffirmed Shin Dong-bin's position as head of Lotte businesses in Korea and Japan. Hopefully, this will end the conflict between the Shin brothers.

They have supported Dong-bin's proposal to unify the corporation under one leader, a move that marks the younger Shin's victory after the family's highly public succession battle.

Dong-bin has also taken the meeting as an opportunity to apologize for their feud, saying, "This [shareholder meeting] was designed to address the recent incident and prevent the recurrence of such events."

He adds, "I think one should not let family affairs meddle in management issues".

Executives and shareholders of the de facto holding company in Japan have decided to meet after Shin Dong-joo has pledged to have Dong-bin removed as CEO of Lotte Holdings - a position handed to the younger brother on July after Dong-joo was stripped of his title in the same month. Still, he was present yesterday, though their father wasn't.

Lotte Group has released a statement, citing the motions to push for "a stable management structure led by Shin Dong-bin". Additionally, the top members have agreed to appoint a board director externally. They have named Tomoko Sasaki - a Japanese lawyer, former prosecutor, politician and novelist - for this position.

These motions have been decided in a bid to obtain assurance that Lotte's management will be based on principles and rules. Family affairs and other non-business matters shouldn't get in the way too. Then again, the meeting statement hasn't declared a specific breakdown of votes among the shareholders.

While the whole turnaround solidifies the role of Dong-bin, it isn't good news for Dong-joo who has stated that he will replace the current board and bring back the patriarch. He has also expressed confidence that two-thirds of the shareholders will have his back, particularly when votes from Kojyunsya, stockowners and his own are put together. Despite the support his younger brother has obtained, he didn't appear worried after coming out from the meeting.

Kojyunsya is a headed by Shin Kyuk-ho and is a major shareholder (one-third) of the company in Japan. The other third is distributed among associations and subsidiaries, while the remaining third belongs to employees who own stocks.