Eastar Air Launches 'Public Sale'... What Are the Upcoming Schedules?

A sense of silence filled the headquarters of Eastar Jet in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on the 29th, when the press conference regarding the acquisition and merger of Eastar Jet and Jeju Air was held. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Eastar Jet has announced a bidding notice for public sale and has entered the sales process.

According to the aviation industry on the 19th, Deloitte Anjin Accounting Corporation, the lead sales agent for Eastar Jet, will accept letters of intent (LOI) from interested parties until the 31st.

Earlier, Eastar Jet filed for corporate rehabilitation with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court in January and has been promoting the sale through a "stalking horse" method. The stalking horse method involves signing a conditional contract with a preliminary buyer and conducting a separate public bidding to decide the final buyer.

If another bidder offers a higher price than the preliminary buyer in the main bidding, the buyer can be changed. Even if there are no bidders or the sale fails in the main bidding, the sale can proceed with the preliminary buyer who signed the contract earlier.

It is known that Eastar Jet signed a preliminary purchase agreement with a mid-sized company on the 14th. This public bidding comes 10 months after the failed M&A with Jeju Air last year.

Previously, Eastar Jet had completely suspended flight operations since March last year due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The Eastar Workers' Solidarity commented on the sale promotion, saying, "The successful stalking horse method contract was possible thanks to the active judgment of the rehabilitation court that understood the pain of Eastar Jet employees and flexibly led the sales process," and added, "We humbly thank the prospective buyer who recognized Eastar Jet's future value and decided to invest on behalf of all employees."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.