U.S. litigation firm Kobre & Kim, together with Three Crowns and Korean disputes firm KL Partners, secured Florida-based investment manager Elliott Associates a $108 million award in an international arbitration against the Republic of Korea over a dispute arising from a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.

Elliott filed an arbitration case against the South Korean government in 2018 over its alleged unlawful intervention in the 2015 merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, both affiliates of Samsung Group.

The U.S. hedge fund, which owned a 7.1% stake in Samsung C&T, demanded $539 million plus interest in compensation for losses due to the Korean government's intervention in the merger, to which Elliott objected. The intervention, argued Elliott, led the South Korean state-run National Pension Service, which held a large stake in Samsung C&T, to approve the $8 billion merger.

The tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague has ruled in favor of the U.S. hedge fund, finding the Korean government's intervention in the merger a violation of international law that caused damages to Elliott. The $108 million arbitral award to Elliott consisted of $53.6 million in damages plus delayed interest and $28.9 million in legal fees, according to Reuters citing Korea's Ministry of Justice.

Kobre & Kim, Three Crowns and KL Partners advised Elliott in the arbitration case administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, while Big Six South Korea law firm Lee & Ko and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted for the Republic of Korea, according to an arbitration proceedings document.

The Kobre & Kim team was headed by partners Michael S. Kim and Andrew Stafford KC, while the Three Crowns team was led by partners Constantine Partasides KC, Georgios Petrochilos KC and Liz Snodgrass. The KL Partners team was led by partners Beomsu Kim and Byungsup Francis Shin.

Lee & Ko's partner Sungwoo Lim led his firm on the case, while the Freshfields team was led by partner Nicholas Lingard.