[Courtesy of Lotte Hotel]
South Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate, Lotte Group, has jumped into the race to acquire a renowned medical care hospital, reactivating the group's strategy of diversifying its business portfolio through mergers and acquisitions.
Banking sources said Lotte was among 12 candidates which submitted bids last month for Bobath Memorial Hospital, a specialized medical center focusing on neurological disorders and chronic medical diseases.
Bobath opened in 2002 when South Korea's Nuelproon Medical Foundation was allowed to use the hospital name from Britain's Bobath Foundation. It was placed under a workout program in September 2015 due to growing liabilities.
It was Lotte's first aggressive business activity since group chairman Shin Dong-bin, 61, was released from detention by prosecutors on September 29 after a court refused to issue an arrest warrant on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.
The court's decision eased concern about a managerial vacuum in the group, which has been under an extensive three-month probe into alleged tax evasion, embezzlement and other irregularities by the group's ruling family and executives.
The group welcomed Shin's release and vowed to step up efforts to normalize its troubled businesses and investments which have been put on hold due to an investigation by prosecutors that followed a protracted fraternal feud between Shin and his elder brother.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
