이 기사는 2022년 04월 22일 08:08 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Samsung Electronics has relocated mergers and acquisitions (M&A) expert Lim Byung-il to lead the company’s M&A deals while promoting Ahn Joong-hyun, an executive vice president at its business support task force, to president to lead a future business division at its in-house think tank.

Ahn was promoted to president last week to lead a future business division at Samsung Global Research, according to industry sources on Wednesday.

Ahn joined Samsung Electronics in 1986 and was engaged in large M&A deals like Samsung’s acquisition of Harman International Industries in 2017 and the sale of its defense and chemical businesses to two other Korean conglomerates – the Hanwha and Lotte groups. Although there has been no major announcement since the Harman deal, Ahn was initially expected to continue his role in leading the company’s M&A deals.

However, in an unexpected move, Samsung Electronics appointed Lim to lead the tech giant’s future big deals. Lim served as managing director at Credit Suisse and UBS and moved to Samsung Securities as managing director in June 2021 before joining Samsung Electronics as executive vice president of business support task force in December last year. Lim has extensive cross-border M&A experiences.

Lim will now work with vice chairman Chung Hyun-ho, vice president Yeo Hyung-min and Koo Ja-chun on major M&A deals at the business support task force. Last year, the Korean tech giant hinted at a mega deal in next three years.

Meanwhile, Ahn is expected to lead R&D projects for the group’s future growth engines with his new role. (Reporting by Hye-ran Kim)