Kia Motors to sell 400 bln won of bonds with warrants

(ATTN: UPDATES with board's decision, details)
SEOUL, March 6 (Yonhap) -- Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest
automaker, said Friday it will issue 400 billion won (US$257.3 million) worth of
bonds with warrants this month to shore up its financial structure.
The company's board endorsed the sale of bonds, which will be sold March 19 and
mature in March 2012, Kia said in a regulatory filing.
Investors who buy the bonds will have an option to purchase new shares of Kia for
6,880 won per share, Kia said.
"The issue of bonds with warrants could dilute the stock price in the short term,
but could serve as a stable measure to raise money in the current business
environment," Lee Jae-rok, chief financial officer of Kia, said at the company's
annual shareholder meeting earlier in the day.
In 2008, the outstanding net debt of Kia, which is building its first U.S.
assembly plant in the state of Georgia and plans to start production there late
this year, jumped 35 percent to 5.63 trillion won, analysts say.
Shares of Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., fell 0.76 percent to 6,500 won
in Seoul the same day.
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