Kang Seok-hoon, Chairman of KDB, "Won't sell HMM if no suitable buyer"

It is not a statement that the current candidates are unqualified
There will be no loan support for the acquirer

Kang Seok-hoon, Chairman of the Korea Development Bank, stated regarding the sale of HMM, "If there is no qualified buyer, there is no reason to sell, and it should not be sold."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 24th, during the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee audit, Kang responded to a question from Yoon Joo-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, asking, "Even if it is judged that there is no qualified buyer, will HMM definitely be sold in this bidding?" This answer was interpreted as leaving open the possibility of a failed bid.

Regarding a similar question from Representative Yang Jeong-sook, he said, "I did not say that the current applicants are unqualified," adding, "I made a general statement, and I believe the companies that have shown interest in acquiring are highly evaluated in their respective fields."

In response to Representative Yoon's concern that HMM's management normalization has not been sufficiently completed and that a premature sale to a private company could jeopardize even the acquiring company, Kang said, "HMM's competitiveness has significantly improved," adding, "We will carefully review the acquisition candidates and select qualified candidates by considering their track records in the shipping industry."

However, the Korea Development Bank drew a line by stating that there will be no loan support for acquisition candidates. Regarding a question from Yoon Chang-hyun of the People Power Party about the acquiring company's financing plan, Kang said, "We are not considering loan support for the acquiring company at all," and added, "Rather than setting specific limits on the external borrowing ratio in the financing plan, we will place significant importance on how high the equity ratio is." He also emphasized, in response to concerns that the acquirer might extract HMM's cash through dividends, "We plan to sign a binding agreement to prevent the acquirer from using the funds for private purposes."

The Korea Development Bank and the Korea Ocean Business Corporation (KOBC), which are handling the sale of HMM, have shortlisted three qualified bidders: Dongwon Industries, the Harim-JK Partners consortium, and LX International. They have been conducting due diligence since the 6th of last month. The final bidding will be held next month to select the preferred negotiation partner.

Although the Korea Development Bank has repeatedly stated its intention to complete the sale of HMM within the year, the industry has continuously expressed doubts about the possibility of a failed bid, as all three candidates are considered unlikely to acquire HMM on their own financial capacity, given that the sale price of HMM is expected to be around 5 to 7 trillion won.

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