Hanshin Rating "Harim and Pan Ocean, It Will Take Time to Confirm the Effects of HMM Acquisition"

Regarding Harim Group's Pan Ocean's acquisition of HMM, on the 21st, Korea Ratings stated, "We plan to review the credit impact on Harim Group and others once the acquisition conditions and financing plans are confirmed."

HMM headquarters located in Yeouido Park One Tower. Photo by Yongjun Cho jun21@

On the same day, Korea Ratings announced this through the Harim Group Credit Impact Assessment Report. Earlier, the Pan Ocean-JKL Partners consortium was selected as the preferred bidder for HMM acquisition on the 18th. The transaction size is reported to be around 6.4 trillion KRW. The goal is to complete the deal in the first half of next year through stock purchase agreements and negotiations on acquisition conditions.

Korea Ratings said, "As a pure holding company of Harim Group, Harim Holdings' credit rating is influenced by the financial stability at the holding company level and the creditworthiness of its main subsidiaries such as Pan Ocean," adding, "The progress and impact of Pan Ocean's acquisition of HMM is a monitoring factor."

They also stated, "If the related procedures proceed smoothly, Harim Group will incorporate HMM, the largest domestic container shipping company, as an affiliate. In this process, large-scale funding requirements at the group level are expected," and "Depending on the financing structure, the financial burden on Harim Holdings and other affiliates could significantly increase. In such a case, a review of whether structural subordination deepens will be required."

However, they drew a line by saying, "Specific acquisition conditions and financing plans have not yet been finalized." Korea Ratings explained, "We will monitor whether the procedures proceed smoothly in the future and plan to review the credit impact once the acquisition conditions and financing plans are confirmed."

Regarding NS Shopping, they said, "It is understood that NS Shopping does not plan to participate in financing related to this acquisition (such as direct investment, guarantees, and collateral provision). At this point, this acquisition is not expected to have an immediate impact on NS Shopping's credit rating." However, Korea Ratings added, "We will continuously monitor whether any factors arise that affect NS Shopping's credit rating due to changes in the financing structure during the procedure."

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