[THE INVESTOR] Korean retail conglomerate Lotte Group is likely to unveil a series of steps next week to simplify its complicated governance structure, industry sources said on April 21.

The group’s two key affiliates, Lotte Shopping and Lotte Confectionery, are rumored to be rolling out the plan at their respective shareholders meeting next week to split themselves into an investment unit and a business arm, according to industry sources familiar with the matter.

The next possible step will likely be merging the two investment units of Lotte Shopping and Lotte Confectionery, in which Hotel Lotte, the unlisted de facto holding company of the group, currently owns an 8.83 percent and 3.24 percent stake in each.

The plan, if it goes smoothly, will pave the way for the retail giant to realign its complex web of cross-shareholding structure that has 94 affiliates under its wing to a simpler one with the hotel unit at the top of the group’s governance structure, they said.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)