Hanwha Group, South Korea's 10th-largest family-controlled conglomerate, said Sunday it will launch a task force this week to maximize the synergy effect from its takeover of four Samsung Group affiliates.

Late last month, Samsung, the country's top conglomerate, announced an estimated 1.9 trillion won (US$1.72 billion) deal to sell four chemical and defense units to Hanwha Group. The deal will be completed by the first half of 2015.

Hanwha said the task force, scheduled to start operations on Monday, will be charged with putting forward measures to smoothen the integration of the Samsung units with the group's subsidiaries.

A Hanwha executive said the group will retain the workforces of the four Samsung affiliates without any change in their pay and working conditions.

"Hanwha highly values the capabilities of the Samsung companies' executives and employees," he said. "The most important thing is to maintain the competitiveness of the companies to be purchased and further hone it."

Samsung, which has the world's top smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co. under its wing, reached the deal with Hanwha as part of its business restructuring plan.

Under the deal, Samsung will offload its shares in defense affiliate Samsung Techwin Co. and chemical unit Samsung General Chemicals Co. to Hanwha. Two other affiliates, Samsung Thales Co.

and Samsung Total Petrochemicals Co., were automatically included in the deal because they are half-owned by the companies being sold to Hanwha. (Yonhap)