Korean Air Acquires 64% Stake in Asiana... Subsidiary Integration After 4 Years

Korean Air acquired Asiana Airlines more than four years after deciding to acquire it on November 16, 2020.

On the 12th, Korean Air announced that it had acquired 131,578,947 new shares of Asiana Airlines (a 63.88% stake) and incorporated Asiana Airlines as a subsidiary. The previous day, Korean Air completed the new share subscription transaction by paying the remaining 800 billion KRW to Asiana Airlines. With this, Korean Air has completed the payment of a total of 1.5 trillion KRW for the third-party allotment capital increase, including the already paid contract deposit of 300 billion KRW and the interim payment of 400 billion KRW.

Korean Air plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting of Asiana Airlines shareholders on January 16 next year to appoint a new board of directors and begin workforce restructuring in earnest. It has been decided to operate Asiana Airlines independently for about two years and then ultimately integrate the two companies into one.

Currently, Korean Air is establishing a strategy to maximize synergy after the integration with Asiana Airlines. First, it plans to diversify overlapping route time slots and increase new routes.

At the same time, it emphasized that there will be no artificial workforce restructuring. The position is that as business volume increases in the future, the necessary workforce will naturally increase. It explained that some overlapping personnel can be reassigned to needed departments without any problems.

Meanwhile, Korean Air will report the mileage conversion ratio between the two companies to the Fair Trade Commission by June next year and decide on the final mileage integration policy after thorough consultations.

A Korean Air official said, "We plan to proceed in close consultation with the government and the Korea Development Bank during the merger process," adding, "After the merger, we will truly leap forward as a global network airline and establish a foundation to compete with other global mega airlines."

With the final approval from the European Union Executive Commission (EC), the last hurdle for the corporate merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines has been cleared. On the 29th, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines passenger planes were waiting on the runway and apron at Incheon International Airport, Yeongjongdo, Incheon. The merger process between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, which began in 2020, has entered its final stage after four years. Photo by Jo Yongjun

원본보기 아이콘

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.