Hanwha calls for partial sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Hanwha Group said Wednesday that it urged Korea Development Bank (KDB) to partially sell its stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Corp., but its call was rejected.

"We proposed that KDB sell a portion of its stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding now and
then sell the rest after the global economy crisis eases, as our funding plan for
the acquisition of the shipbuilder is far from its sale price," said a group
official, who asked not to be identified.
Hanwha had suggested that it will buy 60 percent of KDB's stake in Daewoo
Shipbuilding first and then the rest later, the official said.
The group also asked the lender to maintain the group's managerial rights for
Daewoo Shipbuilding, until it can purchase the remaining 40 percent stake.
KDB, the main creditor of Daewoo Shipbuilding, holds a 50.4-percent stake in the
world's No. 3 shipyard.
KDB last week threatened to scrap a deal to sell a controlling stake to Hanwha,
unless it meets a Jan. 30 deadline to seal the contract.
Hanwha reportedly offered 6.5 trillion won (US$4.95 billion) for Daewoo
Shipbuilding, but had requested postponement of payment amid a severe credit
crunch.
The lender rejected the request, instead offering to extend the deadline until
Jan. 30 and buy some of Hanwha's assets to help it raise money for the takeover.
Hanwha had notified KDB that it could raise up to 3.8 trillion won (US$2.8
billion) by selling its assets.
On Tuesday, KDB called on Hanwha to submit its new funding plan for the takeover
bid within this week, saying the submitted plan is not enough to strike a deal.
Hanwha has been facing difficulty in raising money through the sale of stakes in
real estate and Korea Life Insurance, the nation's No. 2 life insurer, due to the
global financial turbulence.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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