Hynix creditors to invite bids for stake sale

(ATTN: ADDS more background in paras 2-4; UPDATES stock price in 10th para)
By Kim Young-gyo
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- Creditors of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. will invite bids
for a major stake in the world's No. 2 memory chipmaker and receive letters of
intent from potential investors this week, credit bank officials said Monday.
The chipmaker was put under joint supervision by creditors in October 2001, when
it faced a credit crunch amid a faltering semiconductor business climate.
Starting in 2001 and up to 2002, Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) and other creditors
injected $4.6 billion to bail out Hynix by swapping the chipmaker's debts to
stocks.
Hynix ended its debt workout program in May 2005, after the company raised $1.25
billion to pay off its debt. The creditors have retained a controlling stake
since then, selling only a portion of what they held.
Main creditor KEB said that managers for the sale of the chip maker are set to
send out invitational notices on the sale of a combined 28-percent stake in the
company.
The invitations were made only to South Korean companies as no foreign companies
showed interest, the bank said in an emailed statement.
The stake sale, which is estimated by the sellers to be worth 4.5 trillion won
(US$3.65 billion), is being managed by Credit Suisse Securities Ltd., Woori
Investment & Securities Co. and state-run Korea Development Bank.
Four to five domestic companies have already expressed their intent to invest in
Hynix, according to the officials at KEB.
The creditors plan to pick a preferred bidder within the year, they said.
Shares of Hynix closed at 20,950 won on Monday, up 0.72 percent from the previous
session.
The company reported a seventh-straight quarterly loss of 58 billion won in the
second quarter, compared with a 711 billion won deficit a year earlier. Some
analysts expect it will turn to black in the third quarter due to a recovery in
computer memory chip prices.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)