Trading in Samsung Elec to be halted for three days before stock split - Korea Exchange

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s stock exchange said on Monday that trading in Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s shares will be halted for three days before the stock is split.

Samsung Electronics, Asia’s fourth most valuable stock as of Monday, announced a 50:1 stock split in January, in a move that will make it easier for retail shareholders to hold Samsung shares.

The Korea Exchange said the exact dates of the trading halt will be announced by Samsung Electronics. Samsung previously said in a regulatory filing that the newly split shares are expected to be listed on May 16.

The exchange said in a statement that the trade halt, meant for procedures like data processing and submission of old shares, is shorter than the recent average of about 15 trading days to minimize the impact to investors’ liquidity.

Samsung Electronics accounted for around 20 percent of the main Kospi index’s market capitalization as of Monday.