South Korea's antitrust regulator said Sunday it has decided to impose a combined 4.08 billion won ($3.33 million) in fines on Eland Retail Ltd., an operator of outlet malls, and its parent company Eland World for unfair business activity.

Fashion company Eland World, the de facto holding company of Eland Group, unduly received financial support from its affiliate Eland Retail between 2013 and 2017, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).

At that time, Eland World suffered from a liquidity crunch and a fall in its credit status following its excessive push for takeovers.

Eland Retail provided funds to Eland World free of charge or did not take proceeds or deferred interest from the parent firm over an asset transfer deal.

The FTC said the support, valued at 107.1 billion won, helped Eland World tide over its liquidity squeeze and cement its market status. The move also helped the group chief strengthen his grip over affiliates.

Eland Retail will be slapped with a fine of 2.06 billion won and Eland World with 2.02 billion won. (Yonhap)